A Night of Khantoke Dinner and Dance

       Kantoke Palace, Chiang Mai 

The Lanna people of Northern Thailand, have a particular dining style, (an ancient tradition really) called Khantoke. Khantoke is a dining style, where a round and low pedestal tray made of bamboo, rattan or wood is used to serve the food. It is tradition that the family or parties will sit cross-legged on the floor around the Khantoke tray. Several bowls of Lanna food are served on the tray with sticky rice, the number one staple of the Lanna.

The Lanna love sticky rice SO much, sometimes they joke that they lost the battle because the armies spent a lot of their time preparing and eating sticky rice!) The sticky rice is rolled into balls by each person and dipped into the food of their choice. Eating Khantoke means the food on the pedestal is shared by all and eaten slowly. Its a beautiful tradition!  In todays modern world Khantoke dinners are still very common in the home, at weddings, ordinations, celebrations, funerals and other ceremonies.

While in Chiang Mai we heard about The Kantoke Palace, a gorgeous place where you can learn more about the Lanna through food and dance. We heard that there was a Sword Dance, so we jumped on the opportunity to go. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised- there was even more to see than we realized! Upon entering the gates of Kantoke Palace, we were greeted by beautiful young women exhibiting Lanna arts. One woman was carving intricate flowers from melons, another was playing an old Lanna instrument that reminded me of both a harp and xylophone.

  

Be sure to leave your shoes at the door!

The food was absolutely amazing! In the middle is the eggplant and hot chili dip, served with vegetables. Then we have a few curries, some sweet and crispy noodles, some deep-fried pumpkin crisps and deep-fried tofu. Lam mak! ( Very delicious)

                                                            

The dance ceremony was started with Lanna music played live, with the ancient Candle Dance following. Next was the Umbrella Dance among many others, and then finally the Sword Dance, which was traditionally used by the Lanna warrior before entering battle. It was believed to bring power and good luck to the warrior. (The Sword Dance needs a blog of it's own. Check back soon!) 

   

Thanks for reading!  If you'd like to visit the Kantoke Palace,

or learn more about Lanna tradition and dances, visit: KantokePalace.com

Another Stroll Through Yarowat, Chiang Mai

One of my favourite things to do: Take a stroll through Yarowat! 

(Otherwise known as the China-town of Chiang Mai.) Many Thais have Chinese ancestry, especially in Northern Thailand where Chiang Mai is. This culture of Thai-Chinese is known as Lanna, or Lan Na.

It was the Lanna kingdom that ruled here between the 18th-20th centuries, but there is still so much history to be learned about the rule of Lanna, its people and its traditions which are still being lived out today by some locals.

!Yarowat is always a colorful place to be. It may not be for everyone (much like everything else), but for some, the beauty is easy to see. The sights, sounds, and smells are mesmerizing for the backpacker searching for a cultural mecca; people from every country, speaking every language, an abundance of traditional Thai and Lanna clothing, delicious foods lining every street and every alley, the chaos of cars, motorbikes, tuk-tuks and song taews, the smell of curries, deep-fried pastries, and the mountains of merchandise which can be found retail or wholesale (and of course there is no tax).  This market area operates 365 days a year, and is open from daylight to sundown!    

A man cutting up some Jack fruit. (This is not rare to see:  a man selling childrens
 backpacks and hats on the side of the road is also selling Jack fruit!)

Turning off the main road you will find what seems
 like winding tunnels full of vendors of every sort.

For Sale: touques, flowers and potatoes!

The Legend of Thai Silk

The next stop on our escapade was visiting the world-famous Thai Silk Museum and
Boutique,
"Shinawatra", 
 pronouced Shinawat. It is the oldest Thai Silk Factory in all of the Kingdom, is based on Lanna-style (Thai & Chinese mix culture) craftsmanship and is 100% Thai-owned. Since 1911, the Shinawatra family has been producing quality silks in Thailand and has grown from supplying Bangkok and Chiang Mai markets, to running one of the most renowned Silk boutiques- here in    the Chiang Mai District of Northern Thailand.

It is now a large attraction where people from around the world come to learn about how silk is made, from the silk worm, to the loom, to the shelf. This includes Thais, foreign tourists, Thai Government Officials, and even Royalty, including in the past; Princess Diana of Wales, the Prince of Luxembourg, the Queen of Malaysia, the Queen of Denmark, the Prince of Japan etc.

 When you initially enter the museum you are immediately greeted by beautiful Thai women, who lead you under a stunning Lanna-style pagoda (right), surrounded by beautiful gardens where you are served your choice of cold-teas.

They then take you through the museum, explaining each process of production, which starts with the Silk Worm, who I think needs more credit in all of this!

Silk is naturally produced by the Silk worm, which feeds on the Marlboro leaf (top left). Silk producers have bred and farmed many varieties of Silk Worms for thousands of years (domesticating them, they no longer are known in their natural state) They are fed a buffet of Marlboro leaves to initiate the process. As the Silk Worm is supplied with ample food, its body moults 5 times before becoming a full-grown caterpillar. This process takes approximately 23 days.

Then, this full grown caterpillar feeds for another 8 days before spinning a silk cocoon to pupate inside for 8-10 days. This silk cocoon is the valuable material, which will later be extracted and processed. Thai Silk Worms, produce yellow cocoons made of yellow raw-silk and Indian Silk Worms, produce white cocoons made of white raw-silk, which is more valuable in the market(top right). After the pupae-period a Silk-Moth will emerge, however most producers allow only emergence of enough moths to "ensure the continuation of the species. Most of the Silk Worms are killed by heat, either by immersion in boiling water or by drying in ovens" 

A worker boiling white Silk-cocoons in the old-fashioned Lanna style.
The length extracted depends on the Silk Worm variety,
 but can be thousands of meters per one cocoon!

Several types of RAW silk

And this is how pashminas, and other
Silk cloths are made! One strand at a time.

The Final Products!








To learn more
about Shinawatra Products/History/Location, or the production of silk please visit the sources listed below. Thanks for reading!

Sources

1) Shinawatra Thai Silk. http://www.shinawatrathaisilk.co.th/, and museum references

2) Silk. http://www.galenfrysinger.com/shanghai_china_silk.htm