Book Review : Flavors of Empire and Vibrator Nation
When the young men left the military to join the workforce , they needed a place to vacation . Thus , the Thai tourist infrastructure got underway . But Padoongpatt isn ’ t content to make this simply a story of a nation -mining another , more feminized ( and exotic ) country ; he has a sensitive , nuanced touch , especially when articulating the influence of , say , forgotten cookbook author Marie Wilson . It was Wilson , along with fellow culinary adventurer Jennifer Brennan , who , as Western women , “ became experts on Thai ingredients , cooking methods , equipment , and the kitchen .” In their cookbooks , they presented a fantasy of Thailand to U . S . consumers�an extension of colonial behavior that enabled white women to establish culinary authority . Still , Wilson and Brennan encouraged readers to superficially acknowledge the beauty of another country , another culture , a food different from American ( and Anglo ) fare .
Even more fascinating is Padoongpatt ’ s telling of how the Bangkok Market in Los Angeles introduced Thai foodstuffs to the U . S . His description of Thai immigration to the States , in the wake of the 1965 Immigration Act , informs us that Thais in L . A . adopted the slang term “ Robin Hoods ,” referring to those outside of legal status as being noble outlaws . Padoongpatt doesn ’ t sugarcoat the reason why the illegal immigration of Thais was often overlooked ; he cites a U . S . consular official who told the L . A . Times : “ Why worry about 10,000 Thais when there are 600,000 Hispanics coming across the border ?” Chapter Three (“ Too Hot to Handle ?: Restaurants and Thai American Identity ”), meanwhile , digs deeply�and throughly�into the journalistic coverage and culinary criticism aimed at Thai restaurants and food festivals , and how these intersected with the white imagination and its inherent biases . Finally , Padoongpatt delves into the delicious history of Thai Town , the “ 77 th Province , and how
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