Thai Food

No other national cuisine has enjoyed quite the degree
of popularity that Thai food (1) .......... Ten years ago it was a rarity in
Europe and the United States and (2) .......... that it was virtually
unknown. Now Thai cooking has (3) .......... one of the West’s favourite
exotic styles of cooking. As well as the growing (4) .......... of Thai
restaurants throughout the world, there has been an increase little
(5) .......... little in the availability of ingredients on supermarket shelves.
(6) .......... Western cooks it is becoming quite practical to try authentic
versions of Thai dishes at home. One of the things that makes Thai
cooking (7) .......... a challenge is the sheer variety of types of dish.
Thai food lies between Chinese and Indian cuisine, with influences
(8) .......... Burma, Cambodia and Malaysia, each of (9) .......... has had an
effect on Thailand at different stages of (10) .......... history. Some of
the ingredients come from (11) .......... afield. Chillies, to give (12) ..........
one example, are originally from Central and South America but
were incorporated quickly (13) .......... the national diet. Taken all
(14) .........., these influences from abroad have (15) .......... Thai cooking
a strongly regional set of cuisines.