Is US Vice President Kamala Harris a vegetarian? Will Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese like to try Thai wagyu from Korat? Would Indonesian President Widodo Joko like to take a bite of grilled Thai chicken? These and hundreds more questions were asked by the Thai APEC preparatory committees taking care of the menus for the leaders, spouses and delegates attending the APEC leaders Meeting on November 18th and 19th in Bangkok. They discussed it for hundreds of hours and did numerous taste tests before they decide on the menus.
According to informed conference sources, a whole set of menus have been agreed upon and will use a selection of fresh produce and meat from all four parts of Thailand. All dishes reflect the diversity of food sources, traditions and tastes of Thai cuisine.
The dishes will be served at the gala dinner on the night 17th November, at the Royal Thai Navy Conference Hall next to Wat Arun. The dinner will be accompanied by live shows on the Chao Phraya River.
Chumpol Jangprai, an internationally renowned Thai Chef, who has recently been appointed a Sustainable Food Ambassador by FeedUp@UN, will oversee all the menus, according to the sources.
Thai PBS World understands that the appetiser will comprise khao soi (crispy noodles with light curry), shrimp cake with tom yam flavour, together with charcoal grilled wagyu beef from Korat.
For the choice of salad, Chef Chumpol has put together nine organic vegetables from all regions of Thailand, garnished with giant Phuket lobster and eggs from free-range ducks in Suphan Buri with pinches of salt from Phetchaburi.
The mouth-watering main course will be supreme filet mignon, from Phongyangkham Farmers’ Cooperative in Sakon Nakhon, with specially prepared dressing made from galangal, nine kinds of mushrooms and nine grains from Tungkularonghai in Roi-Et.
To end the meal, guests will be treated to Thai traditional desserts made from taro, coconut and lotus seeds, to be served with passion-fruit sherbet with a dash of honey. Apart from a variety of Thai fruits, five petit fours will be served on the side: dara thong, Chiangmai chocolate stuffed with brandy, Kanom malee with coconut, lychee macaron and pandan kanom piak poon. Fine coffee from Nan province will also be offered, along with tea from the plantations in the North.
Spouses and delegates will have various menus from which they can select and sets of appetizers, salad and desserts, all representing the very best of Thai cuisine from four regions of Thailand.
