Coconut, rice & banana: 2 traditional Thai desserts

During the two days that the ordination ceremony I visited last April in Eastern Thailand lasted, I had the chance to see many other things, most of them related to the aforementioned ceremony but not always directly connected to it. They were two intense days full of views and emotions, sights and feelings I hadn't experienced before in the many times I had previously been to that beautiful part of Thailand, and today's post will cover exactly that: the images, characters and actions that happen in the periphery of bigger events and that tend to be eclipsed by them, but that in essence contribute in a very decisive way to connect the dots and create the atmosphere, bringing something intangible and often bigger than the sum of the parts.

Waiting for the rain, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

No trespassing, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

In this case, there were two supporting characters that stood out for me amongst the rest, both inseparably intertwined: food, and people, for this whole celebration is, to put it simply (omitting the obvios religious purpose and frame), a gathering of friends, relatives and neighbors around a table (or floor) full of food and drinks. The food was not only meant to be shared and eaten by everyone invited to the party (and that, speaking about a small town in the countryside, implies literally everyone around) but was cooked and prepared in advance by the neighbors who would eventually take part in the celebration the day after. Though they were many hands and flavors arising from the fires at once, I could only focus my attention in two of them (both desserts), and those are the two dishes I will present here, the first of which is called "khao tom mad".

Coconut flakes, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Coconut milk, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The rinse, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

After opening and scraping the coconut to detach all the coconut meat in small flakes in a recipient, they added water generously and let the coconut meat impregnate the water with its flavor; after a while, the coconut flakes were removed and the obtained coconut milk was boiled with a few pandam leaves for extra flavor. Once the coconut milk was hot enough, sticky rice was added and cooked with yellow beans to create the filling for this first dessert.

The hat and the pot, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Embers, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Once the filling was ready, it was time to prepare the wrapping, which were banana leaves cut, cleaned and washed directly from the trees nearby. Afterwards, small pieces of banana were inserted on top of the leaves, and covered with the previously cooked filling, wrapping the leaves all around them forming a rectangular shape. Finally, all the small packages were placed in a pot and they were slowly double boiled as a final step.

Banana leaves, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The artisan, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The last step, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Wrapping, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Seung, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Concurrently, a few other women (always women) were preparing the second dessert, called "Khanom tom", primarily made of coconut meat. In this case, the wrapping would be more elaborated, and it consisted in a dough that had previously been kneaded by expert, gracile hands and given a concave, curved shape, in which they would later add the filling.

Kneading I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Kneading II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Gastronomic pottery, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The coconut meat that was originally extracted and kept aside became now the main ingredient of the filling in this second dessert: it was cooked with yellow beans and sugar until a compact, sticky paste was formed, and only after it cooled down it was introduced in the dough, which in turn would be wrapped around it, hiding the contents to the eyes (not to the mouths that soon would enjoy these delicacies). Finally, new banana leafs wrapped the small cupcakes.

The mix is ready, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Filling, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Closing the dough I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm 

Closing the dough II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Closing the dough III, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm 

Final wrap, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm 

Everyone enjoyed the food together, toddlers and old people alike, sitting in circles and spending a day full of chit-chat, bonds and shared rituals. Here I present a small sample of the eyes and faces that were present at different stages of the celebration (if not involved in all of them at various levels) and that specially caught my attention.

Balance, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The road to the temple, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm 

Bored guest, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The blue cape, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Inscrutable gaze, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Yet food was not the only thing that brought people together those two days, for there was another element that got everyone together and that ended up being specially difficult to capture through my camera: music. The music accompanied the parade to the temple and also every meal, well into the night. And music, naturally, awoke the bodies that so far had been quiet, offering a show of movement and rhythm that was difficult to avoid and to forget.

Women's dance, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The night the DJ checked his phone, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Making merit: monk's ordination in Thailand

A few weeks ago I was lucky be invited to attend an ordination in Eastern Thailand during the Songkran holidays; I had read and seen multiple articles and pictures of this event beforehand, so I thought I was more or less familiar with the ceremony, in which a boy over 20 years old gets ordained at a temple for a short amount of time (that usually ranges from a few days to a few weeks) to make merit for his parents or relatives, as the highest form of merit making conceived by Buddhists; nevertheless, I immediately jumped in the opportunity to be present in one of them directly, since I wanted to experience it from within. Although I'm sure each ceremony varies and has its own idiosyncrasies and specificities, I understand that this was a very reliable depiction of the event that, in the end, turned out to be much more complex and rich than I had anticipated. They were two days full of big and small details that I tried to capture with my eyes and my camera and that I will try to portray here as best as I can. 

Atrezzo, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Day 1 started in the afternoon, when the soon-to-be-ordained young man paid a visit to the local temple he had chosen (normally the temple closest to his hometown) to retrieve some religious items that would be necessary in the ceremony; he then brought them home where some of the neighbors, all of them old women, were awaiting to polish them in order to carefully set all the decorations and arrangements the house had to undergo for the following day, which also included untying the cords from plaited ropes and cooking the meals that everyone would eventually eat. It was very apparent to me from the very beginning that this was not an individual event, nor even a private, familiar one, but a celebration that involved the whole community in several ways and in which everyone took part performing different tasks. Perhaps in the cities this atmosphere of neighboring collaboration has faded, but in the rural areas definitely this was a party for everyone where the host was but the excuse for the whole celebration.

Preparations, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Untying the cords, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Once the preparations where in motion at home, the young ordinand returned to the temple where he was dressed with the appropriate clothes, again with the help of the old women from neighbor houses, and awaited the arrival of the monks who would perform the first important and very symbolic ritual of the ceremony: cutting his hair. One by one, every family member, elder from the village and friend of the ordinand cut a lock of his hair as a way of wishing him luck and expressing their love and friendship, while all the fallen hair was being collected in a vase covered by a banana leaf.

Expectations, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The first cut, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

What stays behind, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Traces I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Traces II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Traces III, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Once everyone had cut a lock of hair, the monk took the razor, and the final step of this ritual was performed in complete and total silence: shaving his head and his eyebrows to clean his head of all current attachments to his former self and granting him a fresh, new beginning. Once the head was freed from all hair, the family members, those receivers of the merits, spilled cold water over his skull to clean it from all stray tresses.

The holy barber I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The holy barber II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The drop over the eyebrow, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

New beginning, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The wash, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Back from the temple, and as the evening slowly gave way to the night, the friends proceeded to decorate the car that would be used the following day with colorful ribbons tied in beautiful, flowery patterns, while the one-step-closer ordinand walked alone, visiting all the houses of the elder neighbors as an act of thanks-giving, praying individually for each of them. Once back in his house, there were some more prayers and the last day of freedom extended well into the night with food, drinks, and endless chit-chats and conversations with friends and relatives long-time absent.

Car decorations I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Car decorations II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Thanks-giving, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Day 2 started as early as the sun rose; the house was all ready since the previous night so, when the monks arrived with the sunrise, along many neighbors, the traditional alms-giving ceremony started. After the prayers, the monks and all the guests were treated to a copious breakfast paid by the family of the ordinand, who was already halfway between us, the guests, and monkhood (you can see the process of cooking some of those dishes in this post here).

Lighting the candle, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Offering alms I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Offering alms II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Offering alms III, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Soon after the people finished their food, the ordinand was surrounded by a constant stream of neighbors and friends that, one by one or in small groups, tied the cords around his wrist along with money, offering him their prayers and best wishes in a never-ending procession of hands and whispers. The ordinand was the center of a beehive of people that never seemed to fade and, in a prolonged ritual, his arms became full of white and orange cords, the urn beneath brimming with notes, both big and small.

Tying the cords I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Tying the cords II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Neighbors I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Neighbors II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

It was then when the ritual abandoned the house for the first time that day and the parade to the temple started. Noon was fast approaching, and the sun was fierce and mighty, yet nobody wanted to miss the last (and most important) stages of the celebration, so the car opened the march, with the ordinand carried in the back of the pick-up, flanked by his closest family members, the ones for whom he was actually enduring this ritual, and everyone else (us: friends, neighbors, relatives, observers) followed on foot to the temple grounds.

The parade, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Bonds, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The way to monk-hood I, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The way to monk-hood II, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Once in the temple, and after a short interval of refreshment, dance and picture-taking, the ordinand was risen on the shoulders of a neighbor and carried 3 times around the temple, with everyone else following, as the final preparation before the real ordination, that was already a stones throw away. After the three rounds, he was lowered to the floor again and, removing his shoes, he climbed up the stairs to the shrine where he would ultimately be ordained. The monks were already awaiting inside the sacred chamber, but one last crowd-pleasing task had to be performed before: with a bright smile, the ordinand threw lots of small laced-flowers with coins inside, while all the guests, particularly the children, awaited at the foot of the staircase to catch as many as they could grab.

Over the shoulders, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

The gifts, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

Thus the ceremony entered the final and most important stage, while at the same time becoming the most intimate; the few people who could gather at the door of the elevated shrine kept total silence while the ordinand received his new robes from the hands of his closest relatives, and then he entered the shrine where he would be changed into those new clothes by the monks themselves. Silence fell upon the temple as most of the guests dissipated, and only a handful of close relatives remained to see how, from the darkness of the shrine, the ordinand reappeared in his bright, saffron robes, ready to receive the final prayers. Once he stepped out of the threshold of that shrine he was no longer the boy he used to be, but an ordained monk, so there were no farewells nor words of encouragement, for he silently followed the procession of monks towards his new home for the following days, while we saw him leaving under the hot sun of April.

The robes, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm

A new life, Lumix GH3 + Panasonic Leica 42.5mm