04/01/2011 Fish and Duck

This morning I was invited for breakfast by Bai and his wife. By the time we got there four fish had already been BBQ’d and the necessary side dishes had been prepared. Bai has created a sensational outdoor setting using a Salaa (thai gazebo). Basically it’s a platform about two feet off the ground with a thatched roof over it. I dare say he probably didn’t get a permit before he built it.

That’s one one of the great aspects of owning land in Thailand, you actually own it. You want to build a new cowport? (Like a carport but you park cows in it) You just find the required materials and go ahead and build it. Besides, the way they build here it will look like it’s been there for years anyway.

This mornings breakfast introduced me to a new additive for the whiskey see sip. I’ve already had the (what ever it is they squeeze out one of the pig’s organs) yellowish fluid from the pig. Now it’s time for fermented fruit. What is fermented fruit? Well, basically citrus fruits left in a jar for several months I would say. They then scoop some of this goop out of the jar to mix with the whiskey see sip.

Whilst all this is going on everyone is obviously speaking their native tongue with no regard for the farlang visitor. Or the opposite as the farlang can’t understand Isan. 🙂 I will slip in the occasional, “what are you talking about?” Nuch will then tell me the topic of the conversation and then continue on in Isan. (Isan being a Thai dialect of the north eastern Thai province with the same name)

Tonight’s duck BBQ night will probably be pretty much a similar affair. The duck will be slaughtered before my eyes and then staked out over the coals using bamboo. This in no way reminds me of a popular duck restaurant back in Melbourne by the way. Soup will then be made from the internal organs as nothing goes to waste.

Whiskey see sip any one?

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