Rating: 
Summary: Interesting information and recipes, but format needs work.
Review: Recipes would be more user-friendly if formatted to make it possible to, at a glance, peruse the steps to follow, rather than have to read through the paragraphs and try to separate out the "to do" information. We like recipes to appear on one page, if possible, or at least to lay out so that ingredients and at least most of the preparation steps appear together.Recipes could be simplified by using--or at least pointing out-- possible shortcuts making use of products available through Thai grocers. This cookbook would make Thai cooking more accessible if it informed users/cooks that these products are an option that in many cases, could simplify the recipes.
Rating: 
Summary: Comprehensive recipe collection/interesting Thai anecdotes
Review: This was my first Thai cookbook and now with 5 others in my collection, it's still the one I turn to most. The recipes contain more ingredients than the do other cookbooks for the same dish. This lengthens preparation times but makes me trust the authenticity more. The curry recipes produce complexly flavored, thick, very rich sauces. If you prefer thinner sauces, look at other books which dilute the coconut milk with chicken stock. This book also has amusing and informative anecdotes about Thai cooking and Thai life. There are many helpful explanations about those ingredients which are strange to Westerners. Like most Thai cookbooks, there are occasional imprecisions - just exactly how much is a "piece" of galanga? But the bottom line is this is the best Thai cookbook I've found.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting information and recipes, but format needs work.
Review: We spent six weeks in Thailand, traveling the country from top to bottom. We kept a daily diary based upon what we ate and where we ate it. Most of the places we ate at were tiny cafe-style shops with one person both cooking and running the place. Loving Thai food, I made copious notes of the ingredients I could identify by sight, and asked the cook to point to ingredients I didn't understand. If he/she didn't have the product, I would write out a phonetic pronounciation of the Thai word, then go to the local market and ask the merchants to show me this item. (Needless to say, the vendors had a good laugh at my wild gesturing and mis-pronunciation.) Thailand was a great adventure and a feast for the palate. I came home with a dozen recipes of my favorite foods and went straight to the bookstore to compare the ingredients of "my" recipes with those of the Thai cookbooks available. Jennifer was dead-on. Her recipes were almost identical in simple ingredient composition and perfectly replicated the fresh flavors we had so recently experienced. Simple, delicious, and always successful. Jennifer demonstrates that good Thai cooking can be easy!
Rating:
Summary: Authentic and Easy
Review: We spent six weeks in Thailand, traveling the country from top to bottom. We kept a daily diary based upon what we ate and where we ate it. Most of the places we ate at were tiny cafe-style shops with one person both cooking and running the place. Loving Thai food, I made copious notes of the ingredients I could identify by sight, and asked the cook to point to ingredients I didn't understand. If he/she didn't have the product, I would write out a phonetic pronounciation of the Thai word, then go to the local market and ask the merchants to show me this item. (Needless to say, the vendors had a good laugh at my wild gesturing and mis-pronunciation.) Thailand was a great adventure and a feast for the palate. I came home with a dozen recipes of my favorite foods and went straight to the bookstore to compare the ingredients of "my" recipes with those of the Thai cookbooks available. Jennifer was dead-on. Her recipes were almost identical in simple ingredient composition and perfectly replicated the fresh flavors we had so recently experienced. Simple, delicious, and always successful. Jennifer demonstrates that good Thai cooking can be easy!
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