Over the years, many of my students have been amazed how the same few ingredients used in different combinations or applied in different methods of preparation produce a vast array of dishes, none tasting like any other before them. As with any art form, the quality of energy the culinary artist puts into a creation is reflected in the finished piece. The tender loving care we put into food preparation, I believe, does make a big difference in the quality of flavors and in the presentation, lending depth and soul to the food. For this reason, I prefer to use traditional methods, such as grinding herbs and spices in a stone mortar rather than in an electric appliance. Hands, too, work much better in mixing certain ingredients, and a discriminating diner can easily pick out the curry made from scratch by hand from one blended in a food processor.
Cooking is an alchemical process.
The resulting synergy makes the final dish much more than a sum of its parts. Some exquisite Thai dishes created by master chefs are so magically created that it is impossible to separate out all the subtle flavors that went into them. Art or alchemy, cooking is more importantly a process of living, an activity in our daily life capable of providing immense pleasure and enjoyment. Thai people believe everything we do in life ought to be sanuk, or fun and pleasurable. This is not a shallow, hedonistic way of looking at things but is a reflection of our penchant for finding the positive expression in whatever we do.