Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America

"Flavors of Empire is a very modern history of a very recent immigrant group told through the pursuit of “yum”, that unique flavor profile of Thai food. Mark is, so far as I can tell, the first person to tell the history of Thai Americans and he does it through food. He shows how Thai people, particularly in Los Angeles, structure their lives around “yum”, which is simultaneously salty, sour, sweet, creamy and spicy. The procurement of products that make up that flavor is not easy. Padoongpatt shows us how Thai Americans achieved that goal, built a community around it, and launched a new cuisine—some might even say food “fad”—in America. Padoongpatt’s contributes study of procurement to food studies—literally, who are the people who got the ingredients and made sure they continued to be available in our markets through entrepreneurialism and transnational trade agreements. To recreate the flavors that make them feel at home in a foreign place, immigrants go to great lengths to procure ingredients. Thai Americans created markets that became congregation points for their community and shaped trade policy to secure the components of their flavor profile."