Travel a la carte

PHUKET: When I first came to Thailand, I came to travel. I went north and south, south and east. Sadly, since I moved here permanently, I find myself lacking the time to explore this country, and if I manage to secure some time off, I travel abroad. Luckily, there is a way to travel even when short on time and without having to venture too far away – through food.

These are everyday journeys, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Mornings are the time to visit my home country – three years in and I still have trouble digesting the Thai breakfast menu: jok? Moo ping? Thank you, but no thank you. I’ll stick to my soft-boiled eggs, my fresh bread and my coffee.

It’s lunch time when I’m more eager to explore – like during one of my recent lunch breaks at work when, together with other Gazette editors and reporters, we headed to a small, local Isaan restaurant.

Without traveling hundreds of miles and spending hours on buses or thousands of baht on plane tickets, we hopped right into the aromatic world of northeastern Thailand. Spicy laab moo tod, crunchy yam pla duk foo, refreshing som tam khai khem and fat-dripping grilled pork and chicken.

Every bite and every sniff of fresh mint, chili and lime was like a discovery, transporting us from our table to somewhere far, far away. Had we chosen a different eatery, we could have been dining in Chiang Mai via a bowl of steaming hot khao soi or in the Deep South by means of a thick kaeng tai pla.

All this without getting up from our table.

Evenings are often a time for more distant travels. I find myself in need of a visit to Italy, by way of pasta or a slice of pizza. I don’t mind a stop in Texas thanks to a slab of BBQ ribs, or a Russian escapade when munching on some dumpling and borscht. A region I visit frequently is northern India and Nepal, with it’s dall baht, ginger pork and baji – I’m lucky to have these in their best incarnation: homemade.

After this extravaganza, going back to a bowl of Phuket’s mee hokkien or the ocean-scented hamok talay feels like coming back home. And I feel blessed to be able to call Phuket my home – here, the whole world is on my plate.

— Maciek Klimowicz