The Food and Cooking of Thailand

I like this book -- I received it as a gift recently and have made a few of the dishes in it, all very good. I don't mind that it might not be truly "authentic" Thai food -- there is a nice variety of recipies in a many categories. The preparation instructions are straightforward and there are great pictures of the dishes as well. Tasty!

I've been using this book for about a year and have made about half of the dishes. Almost everything I've made has been very good and very well-liked by myself and others. I cannot speak to the "authenticity" of the book per se, but I have to shop at the biggest Asian grocery where I live and even then I can't always find all of the ingredients called for. Actually, I would warn that if you don't have a good Thai or pan-Asian grocery nearby, you might want to skip this, as you won't be able to find the lime leaves, lemongrass, galanga, coconut milk, and other staples of Thai cooking. The book is thankfully filled with large, full-color photographs. My only quip is that a few measurements could use clarification. First of all, I'm pretty sure the "shallots" referred to throughout are Thai shallots, which are much smaller than their American counterparts. Same goes for basil. I highly recommend this cookbook. The recipes are easy, fun, and delicious. I haven't had a bad one yet. This is a very good and very accessible introduction to Thai cooking.