Nam pak sathon is a condiment from the Dan Sai district of Loei province. With a salty flavour, people in Loei replace fish sauce and nam pla ra (fermented fish sauce) with nam pak sathon when making som tam (spicy papaya salad), jaew dam (Isan style sauce) and other Isan dishes. Thus, when TCDC Commons at Seacon Square Srinagarindra held the workshop "Nam Pak Sathon", 15 participants learned about the condiment and how to use it in dishes.
"Nam pak sathon is an Otop product of the Dan Sai community. Its taste is similar to fermented fish sauce. Nam pak sathon contains less sodium than fish sauce. Moreover, since nam pak sathon is made from vegetables, vegans can use it as a condiment," said Pamuk Yukong, service manager of TCDC Commons.
The workshop was part of the touring exhibition "Local Immunity" by TCDC Commons to inform visitors about local herbs that can boost the immune system. Visitors can see many local plants and herbs they are not familiar with. Even Pamuk confessed he had not heard of nam pak sathon before.
"Local Immunity" was created during the early days of Covid-19 when there was no vaccine available. Due to fear, people turned to herbs to boost their immunity. The exhibition showcased in Chiang Mai last December, then at Bangkok at Bangkok Design Week, and finally in Khon Kaen before returning to Bangkok again at TCDC Commons.
"The show was designed as a touring exhibition in order to reach large audience. It presents ingredients and recipes from every region of Thailand with more content added to reflect the current situation. For example, after fah talai jone was approved to treat Covid-19, information about it was added to the exhibition. Also, cannabis and hemp were added to the display after it was removed from Thailand's Category 5 narcotics list in June," Pamuk said.
"Local Immunity" is divided into three sections -- Food = Medicine; Hong Krua Poom Dee (Kitchen Ingredients As A Source Of Immunity); and Local = Global Immunity. Visitors learn in Food = Medicine that after Covid-19 broke out, the sales of Encyclopedia Of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier increased by 468% in the US. Also, sales were higher in areas with low vaccination rates. Meanwhile, a survey titled "Health Aspirations And Behavioral Tracking Service" by NPD, a market research company, reported that one out of five Americans turned to food and beverages to increase their immunity and relieve stress. Elderberry was one of the most popular foods due to its immunity boosting and antiviral qualities.
Last year, research by Group M Thailand reported that 65% of respondents to a survey were concerned about food safety.
"In the past, Thais bought food they liked. After the pandemic, people have become concerned about food safety, so they carefully read food labels to check the ingredients and source of production. Group M Thailand found that Thais prefer natural food in their local areas as well as food in safe packages or those transported safely with tracking ability," said Pamuk.
"Since we learned that herbs became popular in the US, we looked at Thai food and found that Thai dishes contain herbs that could boost our immunity."
The largest section, Hong Krua Poom Dee (Kitchen Ingredients As A Source Of Immunity), is the most interesting because it displays various materials such as food models, samples of essential oils and rubber stamps of food.
Sudarath Khawpluem, assistant service manager of TCDC Commons, said that the creators considered kitchens as centres of cooking, so they gathered ingredients from kitchens in the four regions of Thailand. To help visitors understand how to cook homemade fermented food and make herbal drinks, the exhibition displays replicas of ingredients and dishes as well as recipes.
Among several herbs on display, Pamuk likes triphala water and Sudarath prefers takro, or ceylon oak.
"Triphala is known as 'the king of elemental balancing and detoxification'. The main ingredients in triphala are Indian gooseberry, myrobalan and baheda. The recipe comes from India. The drink is high in vitamin C and can help reduce sore throat, phlegm and cough. It can also help people with Covid-19," said Pamuk.
"Ceylon oak has fruits only in the rainy season, so they are available only once a year. Local people either ferment ceylon oak fruits or eat them with salt and chilli. Ceylon oak fruit has a sour taste that can replace lemons. Other popular items in this section are immune-boosting local food recipes from the four regions available to take home," said Sudarath.
In addition to ingredients and recipes, Hong Krua Poom Dee displays several essential oils made from flowers and leaves including cannabis leaf, cinnamon, night jasmine and champak.
"Research cites that aromas from these essential oils help relieve stress. So, the creators gathered essential oils people can find in their gardens," Sudarath said.
The final section, Local = Global Immunity, informs people about how to make agriculture sustainable and governmental policies related to the issue. "Many Thai farmers focus on growing a single crop and use chemicals to produce high yield at a low cost. This kind of food production system can cause negative long-term effects on the ecosystem. It causes loss of biodiversity, especially insects that help in pollination such as bees and ladybugs. We would like to encourage farmers to grow organically since everything has a chain reaction. If farmers produce organic crops, people and the environment will benefit from it," said Sudarath.
Both TCDC Commons executives hope that visitors will acquire information from the exhibition and adapt the knowledge to create their own dishes.
"I hope visitors can use ingredients they have in their own kitchens to cook a dish that can boost their immunity," said Sudarath.
"Hopefully, visitors will learn more about local ingredients and herbs in Thailand. People usually see the same ingredients in supermarkets in different provinces. However, there are many kinds of herbs and plants in Thailand. I hope that the exhibition will inspire visitors to be open to substituting the herbs they usually use to other ingredients, so they get different nutrients from different herbs," said Pamuk.
"Local Immunity" runs at TCDC Commons, Seacon Square Srinagarindra until Aug 31. Free admission. For more information, go to facebook.com/COMMONSSeaconSquare.
