Chiang Mai, northern Thailand: Food tour of Thailand's food bowl mountains with Peter Gilmore

By Peter Barrett
Updated April 30 2016 - 1:34am, first published 12:15am
The Royal Project aims to fight deforestation and poverty in Thailand. Photo: Supplied
The Royal Project aims to fight deforestation and poverty in Thailand. Photo: Supplied
A steaming pot of nam prik num. Photo: Supplied
A steaming pot of nam prik num. Photo: Supplied
Hot stuff: Cooking with charcoal. Photo: Supplied
Hot stuff: Cooking with charcoal. Photo: Supplied
A teak stilt house. Photo: Supplied
A teak stilt house. Photo: Supplied
The experimental crops. Photo: Supplied
The experimental crops. Photo: Supplied
The Royal projects. Photo: Supplied
The Royal projects. Photo: Supplied
Chillies were introduced in the 17th century. Photo: Supplied
Chillies were introduced in the 17th century. Photo: Supplied

Thick, charcoal smoke is beginning to fill the small, wooden room. Tending an ancient-looking clay oven – essentially a bowl of ashes sitting on a gravel tray catching errant sparks – is a cheerful woman dressed in elegant, traditional clothes of northern Thailand. Next to her, and watching every move, is top Australian chef Peter Gilmore, of Sydney's Quay and Bennelong restaurants. I am watching too, fascinated by the dish she is preparing but more distracted by the fact that the house we are in – perched on stilts in a remote farming village in northern Thailand – is built almost entirely out of teak. I'm hoping this meal won't be our last.

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