Mutual love of Thai food leads to a very special partnership
"The taste and aroma was so good. Thai food requires so many different types of seasonings. The end result is a wonderful blend with great taste. Other foreign cuisines are not like this.
When I found out that a Thai woman was joining our kitchen staff, my impression was that this woman had to be good since she was a native Thai. Her knowledge about Thai food must be impressive to say the least.I was intimidated even before she arrived. But when I actually met her, she wasn't at all scary.
Two people in love with each other need not necessarily have to share the same tastes.But if they do happen to share the same tastes in a particular direction then the result is a harmonious blend. This leads to a bond that enables a relationship to grow into something beautiful, or what is commonly known as love.
This applies to the owners of a Thai restaurant called Bo.lan. The name is derived from a Thai chef called Duangporn "Bo"Songvisava and her Australian partner Dylan Jones.
Both are connoisseurs of Thai food who are enchanted by the art of Thai cooking.They trained in the art of Thai cuisine separately until fate saw to it that they met one another at the Nahm Thai restaurant of famous Michelin-starred chef David Thompson at London's Halkin Hotel. Of course,Dylan was a chef at that swanky place.
Learning about Thai food ... And each other
"When I found out that a Thai woman was joining our kitchen staff, my impression was that this woman had to be good since she was a native Thai. Her knowledge about Thai food must be impressive to say the least. I was intimidated even before she arrived. But when I actually met her, she wasn't at all scary," said Dylan as he recalled his first meeting with Bo.
Bo said that initially she was a really slow worker despite the fact that she read Thai gastronomy for her Master's degree at the University of Adelaide, Australia, and even had a previous stint as an assistant to chef Amanda Gale at The Met Bangkok.
But working in a family-style environment at the Nahm restaurant was a totally different experience when compared to other places because of the highly detailed nature of creating dishes.
"Most kitchens usually prepare ingredients for their dishes. For example, staff would peel prawns or prepare the meats for each dish by meticulously weighing and slicing them into the proper sizes ahead of time,"said Bo.
"But at Nahm each chef is much more than that. Each dish they prepare will be personally done from the beginning till the end. They'd peel their own prawns, make their own curry paste and seasoning. As for vegetables, it can only be varieties that are indigenous to the area.
"Even though I am a Thai, I never heard of most of the vegetable varieties which other Thai restaurants would never use. I had to start learning from square one again.
"I realised that Dylan was much more knowledgeable about Thai food than I was.He knew more than most Thais. He taught
me a lot.
"Even the tasks such as lifting heavy pots,he would help out throughout my two years at Nahm. He was kind to me."
In love with BBQ fermented pork,Tom Yum spare ribs and a Thai woman
Dylan has been in love with Thai cuisine for as long as he can remember. He worked in Thai restaurants in Australia before travelling to London. Before that he came to Thailand as a tourist.
It was nothing short of heaven, he said, as he treated his palate to endless dishes, both home-cooked and at restaurants around Thailand.
He made it a point not to visit touristy establishments because he wanted the real Thai taste.
"The first Thai dish that I fell in love with was naem yang or barbecued fermented pork.I was so surprised by how tasty it was," said Dylan.
"The taste and aroma was so good. Thai food requires so many different types of seasonings. The end result is a wonderful blend with great taste. Other foreign cuisines are not like this."
Dylan then spoke about the love of his life and what captivated him to pursue this Thai woman. He recalled Bo's first stint at Nahm and described her as a painfully slow worker,but within six months she developed her skills gradually and became the fastest worker in the kitchen, plus she was diligent and determined to learn.
"Her learning technique was extremely proficient. She was very serious and whatever you taught her was memorised rapidly. Once work was done and the guys treated themselves to a beer or two, she'd prepare a real sour and spicy tom yum kradook orn (pork spare ribs) soup and serve it to go along with the beer," Dylan said.
Chasing dreams back home
After Dylan and Bo had accumulated seven years' experience between them at Nahm restaurant they decided that it was time to move on to Thailand and open their own restaurant. Bo.lan was to become their new abode in Bangkok.
Bo.lan is based on a slow food philosophy and was inspired by David Thompson because of his attention to natural and seasonal ingredients.
"Both of us are chefs by profession which is why there will always be quarrels in the kitchen. Though we trained at the same es-tablishment we have different styles which is why we don't agree on some issues and get angry with each other - but only for a short while," said Bo.
"But in general, Dylan is the boss in the kitchen so there's no confusion in the chain of command. I help out when it comes to changing new menus and help teach the new staff as Dylan's proficiency in Thai isn't that good yet.
"But once he's in the zone, he ushers me out of the kitchen because he doesn't want me to interfere too much.
"It's fine by me as long as he makes my breakfast of boiled rice with pork spare ribs,I let him have his way most of the time.
"I have to admit he knows more than me when it comes to Thai food but in the area of tasting I have the upper hand. I have a Thai tongue, so to speak, so I can tell him whether the taste is right or not. This is one advantage that he cannot argue about."
Bo.lan restaurant primarily serves dinner after Bo and Dylan are done with their morning shopping chores at the market.
"Finding the right ingredients is very important. Take Klong Toey market for instance.We need to know the exact time to arrive in order to get just the right vegetables we want,"said Bo.
"If we come at night or close to dawn then we'll get vegetables from the North. If we come in the afternoon we get vegetables from Isan.
"Some types of vegetables need to be sourced directly from the local farmers. Some which are hard to find have to be bought at Ta Chang market. Even the Or Tor Kor market is a great place for its variety."
Dylan and Bo design the menu together.When it's fruit season, there will be a combination of main dishes and sweets which use fruits as ingredients.
For example there's a delicious soup made from rambutans, or a special kaengsom dish made from longans.
Then there are vegetables such as pak tiew, yodmakok, baichaplu, or yodkratue,adapted for their signature dishes in spicy salads and chilli dips.
Unfortunately, many traditional Thai dishes are not recorded in a systematic manner but are usually passed on from generation to generation.
Meanwhile, seasoning and other ingredients are flexible in terms of portions or amount due to the fact that many varieties of vegetables are seasonal and mature at different times of the year."This is the charm of Thai food,"Dylan said."Thai recipes may not be able to stipulate exact and precise portions of ingredients.
"Sugar processed from different regions have a different sweet factor. Nam pla might not have the same saltiness due to the different fermentation processes. Limes taste different in the various seasons. If you don't have limes then there's always a substitute.
"This is what makes Thai food so special.This is why I believe that there is no cuisine like Thai food.
"And I also believe that Thai cooking schools should not teach the art of Thai food based on similar recipes or methods like other styles of cooking because Thai food is much richer in variety and has its own unique personality."
Bo is immensely proud and happy of any praise that might come from diners as Thai cuisine conveys the culture and society of Thai people.
"Some customers tell me that the dishes we prepare remind them of what they ate when they were children. It was what their grandmothers made for them.
"In other cases customers exchange recipes and share their kitchen secrets with us. This enriches our knowledge. Take somsa or example, a customer told us that in the old days somsa was eaten after kao chae in the summer season.
"Different dishes eaten in different climates tend to have a profound affect on one's health it seems."
The passion for Thai food in both Bo and Dylan led to their eventual meeting which grew into love.
Both hope that conveying the value of Thai food through their signature dishes at Bo.lan, all made with love and meticulous attention to detail, will eventually make people understand and learn more about Thai culture and society.
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