So earlier tonight, my friend Jeremy and I had dinner at my local hangout that I enjoy oh so much – Thai Ruam Rose. If you come visit, I will take you there and they will greet us with lovely smiles. We could even sit in the air-conditioned section of the restaurant for 5 baht per head. Anyway, at this point, I’ve started to order what I can in Thai and the rest in English. On this particular visit, I ordered my usual cashew nut chicken along with a few other dishes. When the server calls our order back to us, I heard her say something about mangoes. I didn’t order anything with mangoes, I thought to myself. So I clarified it with her and she said, “stir-fried chicken with cashew nut, right?” Yes.
Halfway into dinner, my Thai friend Blue joins us. I ask him what the word for cashews is in Thai. He tells me that it is “mamuang himapaan.” Mamuang is the word for mango. Himapaan is something of a magical or enchanted forest. So I’m like…ok, magic forest mangoes. I don’t get it. Hah hah. Blue explains that because of the mystical qualities of the forest, many things come in miniature while others come in giant size. Since cashews are shaped somewhat like mangoes in miniature, you can see how they become the magic forest mangoes, can’t you?
Ah, Thailand…
No comments:
Post a Comment