While international travel may be off the cards for a while, not everything we’d enjoy about that travel is beyond our reach. For many – and definitely for us! – a large part of what we most love about travelling is the culinary adventure. All those different flavours and dishes which are unique to wherever in the world they originate from. The aromas fill the air, the dishes are like taste explosions in our mouths and we feel like we are actually tasting wherever it is we’re visiting. That’s why we so love authentic cooking classes – so we can go home, search out the ingredients and re-create those nostalgic flavours and sensations from our travels. It’s like we’re back there all over again.
Well, there’s nothing stopping us tasting and enjoying all the culinary delights we would whilst overseas, by making those incredible dishes and flavours in our Thermomix®. Our latest cookbook, Around Asia, is an ideal way to take a virtual culinary tour of Asia with authentic recipes from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, China and Taiwan. We created this book with invaluable input from many of our Thermomix® Consultants with heritage from each of these areas, so the recipes are 100% authentic and just like their families have always made. The only difference being that, making them in Thermomix®, we’re saving ourselves hours of time slaving in the kitchen for the exact same mouthwatering result.
Come for a mini tour with us here and be sure to check out the entire collection for a true taste. In the hard cover version of the book, available via TheMix Shop AU and NZ, you’ll also find a comprehensive glossary of the more unusual ingredients with indications of where to buy them, as well as a culinary and travel guide to each of the destinations.
It’s not easy to categorise Malaysian cuisine, largely due to centuries of immigrants and traders coming to the country, bringing with them an incredible depth and diversity of cuisine. Flavours, cooking techniques and traditions which shape Malaysian food span from more than a dozen countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Portugal, the Netherlands, the UK and the Middle East. Just imagine the variety and depth of flavour!
In Vietnam, the devotion to food could be considered the national pastime. No matter where you are in the country, you’ll notice that daily life revolves around food, be it where to eat, what to eat, or the making of it.
Picture chaotic, bustling food markets, the deep aromas of spices, grills, simmering curries and nourishing soups. Vietnam’s history of occupation by China, France and Japan at various stages has resulted in a captivating culinary imprint which combines crisp, punchy flavours with the depth of aromatics.
The Thai phrase gan gin gan yu, which translates to “as you eat, so you are”, says it all in terms of how important a part of the Thai culture food truly is. Originating with immigrants from the southern Chinese provinces, Thai cuisine also has elements of Indian, Japanese, Portuguese and even Dutch influence due to missionaries and traders inhabiting the country over the centuries. While Thai food features many of the same core ingredients as other countries in South East Asia, it has a flavour profile all of its own. Close your eyes while these dishes are cooking away in your Thermomix® and imagine you’re sitting at a beach-side shack somewhere on the Thai coast or at a street stall in one of its bustling cities, waiting for the most sensational plate of simple deliciousness to arrive.
Balancing the art of cooking with the medicinal attributes of food has been studied, and mastered, by the Chinese for millennia. But it’s the diversity of flavours that make it one of the world’s most popular cuisines. The four main styles of cooking – Cantonese, Sichuan, Huaiyang and Shandong – evolved based on geography, climate, history, imperial or royal preference and lifestyle. While each style uses similar ingredients, the distinctive combinations of those ingredients and the cooking styles are what identify the styles of each region as unique.
