Add color and new flavors to your daily menu with Thailand: The Cookbook (Phaidon Press, May 2014) by Jean-Pierre Gabriel, photographer and food writer.

On author and project:

"Jean-Pierre Gabriel has spent over three years visiting every region of Thailand to collate and photograph this unique collection of recipes from authentic Thai cooks. During his travels Jean-Pierre has visited Thai homes, markets and restaurants to sample delicacies that vary from simple street food to elaborate palace cuisine and bring them together in this unique volume." 

The book offers "500 recipes ranging from simple snacks and drinks to curries, stir-fries, and elaborate desserts". Thailand: The Cookbook also includes essays on history of Thai Food and regional differences.

Here's a first taste:

Green Papaya Salad

Adapted from THAILAND: THE COOKBOOK by Jean-Pierre Gabriel

Origin: Northeast

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS

 3 bird’s eye chiles
 5 cloves garlic
 1 yard-long bean, cut into 1½ - inch/4 - cm lengths
 2 tomatoes, cut into small pieces
 1 tablespoon jaggery, palm sugar, or soft light brown sugar
 1 tablespoon roasted peanuts
 1 tablespoon dried shrimp
 1 tablespoon lime juice
 2 limes, cut into wedges
 1 tablespoon fish sauce
 ⅔ cup (4 oz./120 g) julienned green papaya
 Grilled Chicken (see p. 276)

INSTRUCTIONS

Pound the chiles and garlic together in a mortar with a pestle, then add the beans and lightly crush. Add the tomato, sugar, roasted peanuts, dried shrimp, lime juice, lime wedges, and fish sauce to the mortar and gently mix together unto the sugar has dissolves. Add the papaya and mix together. Serve either on its own or with grilled chicken.

While many articles describe Jean-Pierre Gabriel as a French author he seems to hail from Belgium and have studied agronomy before a career in food writing and photography.

(* Recipe reproduced with permission from Thailand: the Cookbook by Jean-Pierre Gabriel- published by Phaidon Press, May 2014)