A letter from Frederic Patenaude

Thailand is probably one of the only countries in the world that
attracts tourists for its fruits.

Fruit tourism, a small but growing traveling niche among
raw-foodists!

Having just spent 5 weeks there, I will say that Thailand is one of
the best places in the world if you like food in general, and
probably the best place for a fruitarian.

When Veronica and I arrived at the airport in Bangkok, she was new
to the country, but I had already been there the year prior. I
immediately felt at home in Thailand, and when we stepped out of
the plane I was greeted with the familiar aromas of Thai food,
which tend to permeate the air in Thailand.

I would object if they only cooked fried chicken, but I don't mind
the smell of lemon grass, basil, ginger and fresh herbs.

On this trip to Thailand, we mostly stayed in the cities of Chiang
Mai (in the North) and Bangkok. The purpose of the trip was simple:
eat a lot of fruit, and finish writing my book Raw Food
Controversies.

Thailand is very affordable.

In Chiang Mai, the cost of living can be incredibly low. Of course,
the best part of all of this is all the good fruit and healthy
foods you can buy. Here's a few examples of what you might be able
to find all over Thailand.

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Fruit Cart - These guys are all over big cities in Thailand. They
walk around with their cart filled with fruit! usually papaya,
watermelon and pineapple - and will cut it for you and prepare it
skillfully. The fruit is cooled by the ice they keep in their cart.
It usually costs between 10 and 20 bahts for one serving of fruit,
which is about 35 to 70 cents US.

Durian - Everybody is asking us... did you eat durian yet! Well,
it's not durian season in Thailand. I had it once, but I'm told the
out-of-season durian contains a lot of chemicals they use to make
it mature early. For durian festival, come back in June.

Pomelo - It`'s pomelo season, and I hope you're eating some at the
moment! In Thailand, they sell red pomelo (with pink flesh) which
is delicious. In many markets, you can buy pomelo already
pre-peeled.

Jackfruit - You'll find people on the street and in markets selling
jackfruit. They sell it peeled and deseeded. It's usually 10 bahts
(35 cents) for a serving. Jackfruit is one of my favorites, being
chewing and delicious, with the flavor of Juicy Fruit Gum!

Pomegranate Juice - For some reason, everything is sweeter in
Thailand. The Thai pomegranates are so sweet that their juice can
be drunk straight. Pomegranate juice is sold by street vendors all
over Bangkok.

Papaya Salad - The papaya salad is a staple of Thai Cuisine. It's
called Som Tam in Thai, and street vendors all over Thailand offer
it. They make it by mashing all the ingredients with a mortar. It
usually combines green papaya, tomato, fish sauce, sugar, hot
pepper, peanuts, dried shrimp, garlic, and sometimes other
vegetables such as cucumber, and even fruits like pomelo. I
would`n't trust papaya salad from street vendors (it always contains
fish sauce), but you can order it at certain vegan restaurants with
no animal products.

There's a lot of fruit available year round in Thailand. Even
though the height of the fruit season is the summer, last month I
found an impressive selection of fruit, from mango to Dragon fruit,
with of course the staples such as pineapple and watermelon
(delicious).

Yours for health and success,

Frederic

PS: To get started on the raw food diet, go to:
Raw Health Starter Kit

Frederic Patenaude
8605 Santa Monica Blvd # 6370
Los Angeles, California 90069
USA