Rosa’s Thai Cafe - The Cookbook
Saiphin Moore if the co-founder of Rosa's, a fantastic Thai Café in London. Originally this was just a couple of locations in London but, more recently, the number of restaurants has grown rapidly and now this is a chain all around London.
We used to go for Thai food fairly often as we are part of a comedy club group which my friend Max organises and would often end up in a Thai restaurant before comedy and, with its no frills cooking, Rosa's was a firm favourite. Rosa’s Soho was very much a no frills affair with fantastic food, which is totally perfect for me.
Thai food is my absolute favourite cuisine. It’s so full of flavour and I love the spicy yet salty yet sour yet sweet taste - so delicious. I have wanted a Thai cookery book for ages and really can’t fathom why it took me so long to get one since I have so many cookbooks. Being such a Rosa's fan and loving Thai food I was so excited to get this book and I couldn’t wait to get into it and start cooking.
I loved reading the history of Rosa's and about the little doily they had made, what a cute touch, and the book is written really nicely. I read this book cover to cover and did learn a few things. I also was excited to try some recipes, I have tried a few now and although the Pad Thai did not work out I have since watched the video, made a few changes, marked up the book and got there in the end. I also made the grilled beef in red curry sauce and although my curry looked nothing like the picture, the taste was lovely.
The first thing that struck me about the recipes is that many of them need ingredients that you would only find in Asian supermarkets. I am not talking spices that last (they are easy to get and keep), I mean the fresh ingredients such as pea aubergines and, green peppercorns etc. This was not so much of a problem when I was working in the City as Brick Lane was a short walk away, much less easy now I don’t leave Sevenoaks. I am going to do some research for what ingredients can be swapped out for easier to obtain items so that I can truly appreciate this book. I am not ‘one of those’ but you do have to be able to get the ingredients in order to cook them.
Unusually for me, the recipe that stood out from that very first flick through, every time I pick up this book even today is a simple side dish. More specifically, tenderloin satay. It just literally screams EAT ME. It looks delicious and sticky and I just love satay.
I know some of my friends who are new to cooking find cooking Thai food quite overwhelming because of the ingredient list and also the balancing. Learning to balance that sweet, sour, salty and hot can be a little challenging but practice makes perfect and just keep adding small amounts adapting until you are happy. It is not that Thai cooking needs particular skills, just trusting your palate.
There are many really lovely recipes in this book and lots of Thai recipes that Saiphin has adapted for the Western palate. If you find yourself near any of her restaurants you will love the food. If you are a Rosa's fan and want to cook any of the recipes you have eaten there then this is the book for you. Just remember that if you don't live near an Asian supermarket it will take forethought to figure out if it is possible to buy or change some ingredients and then what with.
Recipes 7/10
Readability 7/10
Knowledge learnt 5/10
Total 19/30