Thai food yum, thai food diapers pee-uuuu!

Over the weekend R and I, Small Boy in backpack, went to the Thai Food Festival at the Thai Embassy here. Thai restaurants and organizations from all over Switzerland (there are a surprising number of Thai here, largely women) set up food stalls or booths selling foodstuffs and handcrafts on the grounds of the Thai Embassy. The booths spilled over to a small field and parking lot area next door, and there was a stage for demonstrations of Thai music, dancing, and boxing; Thai massages were available (for a charge, of course). There were hundreds of people there samping the food, and many mixed Thai-Swiss families laid out blankets and looked as if they were ready to picnic all afternoon.

The food was fantastic. The food stalls were grouped according to regions, so I saw more variety of Thai food than I usually see (because R and I go to the same Thai restaurant all the time). We tried a pork-papaya salad (cold dish); a seafood curry in banana leaves; Thai noodle soup with beef; duck; a fried rice dish mainly for the Small Boy; and of course Pad Thai; we had banana rolls for desert (think spring rolls but filled with cooked banana mixed with coconut shavings). As long as it wasn't spicy or raw, we let Small Boy try from everything. The rice, of course, was a hit; Pad Thai a surprising miss (the Boy is all about the noodles so I though that would be a hit); the noodle soup was a hit; he seemed intrigued by the duck; and the banana roll was a major hit. He's also been known to eat marinaded tofu, mung bean sprouts, maybe even steamed chinese brocolli if he's in the mood, and avocado sushi. Seeing him sitting there, sampling from our strange meals, eating something new and unusual made me so happy.

The aftermath, however, not so much.