The major portion of Thai cuisine is highly spiced and chilli hot, thanks to the addition of a variety of chillies, large and small, some more potent than others. The burning sensation of Thai chillies has caused muchfanning of mouths by stunned foreigners on their first sampling of mouths by stunned foreigners on their first sampling but increased experience often brings enthusiastic approval, as attested by the popularity of Thai restaurants today throughout the world. The ideal traditional Thai meal aims at being a harmonious blend of spicy, subtle, sweet, and sour and is meant to be appealing to eye, nose and palate. Northeasttern food tends to be very spicy, with explosive salads and special broiled, minced meat dishes mined with miniature, high-votage green chillies. Glutinous rice is more popular in this region than steamed rice and exotic dishes like fried ants and grasshoppers and frog curry are not uncommon.
Southern cuisine makes dilicious use of the creatures which team in the nearby seas.
Lobsters, craps, scallops, fish, and squid are common ingredients and unusal delicacies like jellyfish salad can also be found. In the southern most provinces, where there is a large Muslim community, sweet, mild, and spicy curries abound. Foreign food have also found a place in the Thai diet. Some of these go far back in to history, like the egg-based Portuguese swweets which were introduced in the Ayutthaya period, while others like bread and cake are more recent accquisitions, To please the eye, Thai cooks pursue the ancient art of friut and vegetable carving to transform table into visual feasts. Originally an aristocratic art practiced at the royal court, vegetable carvingflourished throughout the Ayutthaya period, when a deft hand could fashion a white radish rose in a matter of minutes.