Tal's Domestic Diligence: March 2015

In a life before, my work involved occasional travel to foreign lands. I was often confronted with curious new foods on a meal-to-meal basis. I came to find my comfort zones in each of these places through much trial and error. On these travels, my dear boss once observed that the hardest foods to carry over from culture to culture were breakfast and dessert. Over the years I worked for him, Kevin had many insights, but this one has stuck with me: breakfast has a tough time hopping borders.

On my honeymoon many years ago, I was inordinately excited that there was a Japanese chef and that his breakfast spread included a rice soup bar with all manner of fixings, preserved meats, pickled bits and more. I can still picture that breakfast bar. Each day, I chose a different combination of stuff for my rice soup and it was always an adventure. It is sometimes fun to not have a clue what you're eating.

On our recent trip to Bangkok, we stayed in Banglamphu, not far from the Chao Phraya River and the Khlong (Canal) Banglamphu. We arrived in the city in the middle of the night after about thirty hours of travel. When we woke up to a rooster crowing somewhere nearby, we knew it was time to scope out breakfast. We found our new breakfast place down an alley, past a dark little wet market where light just peeked through the buildings. They had a variety of different Thai dishes and you could order them in bags to go or to eat there over a plate of rice.