Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

ChiChi - Oh - I misunderstood, someone in the comments mentioned that she expected to see fish sauce in the paste. I guess I misunderstood your response.

I find turmeric root in my local regular old supermarket (lucky I know!), but elsewhere I can find it in Lao markets, and sometimes also at big Asian marts like 99 Ranch. I'm surprised it's hard to find in NYC, but maybe out in Queens there'd be more availability of it.

Very nice series - I love your writing! A few minor clarifications though...

1. No Thai curry pastes have fish sauce in the paste (although they almost all do in the curry itself once it is made up into its saucy goodness). What pastes often have is shrimp paste, which adds a wonderful umaminess and roundness. I buy Thai brands, as the others (Filipino, etc) are stronger and not right for Thai cooking.

2. I've never seen this made with ground turmeric and don't think that's traditional for any Thai curry. What is often used, and what I use is fresh turmeric root. It's aromatic, fragrant, and bright orange. The dried, while lovely for Indian curries gives a mustiness that's not quite right for Thai.

But these are small quibbles - I'm thrilled you are getting people excited about making Thai curry pastes. I love them so much!

If I ever hear anyone actually say this, I'd probably slap them in the face.

@ Adam Kuban....the article on Grups was fantastic...I am, now, officially a Grup. Laughed outloud, but also wondered what the hell I am doing sitting at this desk all day, while life and the things I am truly passionate about pass me by. I may quit this 9-5 tomorrow, it really does suck. I think I'll rock the Hives on the way home today, stop for a 40oz, and sing at the top of my lungs. Thanks.

Ugh, forced coinage. Also ugh, becoming a snob about anything, whether that thing is food, parenting, or one's oh-so-superior management of one or both.

That said, if we need a term to describe little gourmets-in-training, I vote "taster tots."

Surely, you were sent this idea from god???

@jessetay and @Carioca: I should have elaborated in the post the way I originally intended to after writing that headline. It's great that parents are feeding their kids real, natural food. And if you read the whole post in which Phil Lempert coins "koodie," his message is a good one—that these kids will, we hope, end up eating better, be healthier, and avoid the obesity issues that their peers and kids before them have encountered.

My eye-rolling is targeted at the sort of parents who seem to use their kids as a sort of creative accessory, flaunting their tots' sophisticated food choices as a way of saying, "Hey, look what an awesome parent I am. My 2-year-old is eating foie gras, can tell the difference between ten types of imported olives, and prefers sushi to fish sticks."

For background, these people are straight out of Stuff White People Like or, for lack of a better word, are the type of parents New York magazine identified as "grups" in this 2006 article on hipster parents. See also the first paragraph of this blog post: http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/read/goodbye-to-all-that

It's just sort of like, why can't these folks just feed their kids good, real, or "challenging" food and not make a big deal about it and turn it into some sort of "look at my gastronome kid"?

@ricewins, I'm with you. I thought that "Dexter" column in the NYT was a spoof, but after seeing it again and again it does actually seem to be some besotted Dad rambling on about his little kid's 'recipes'. We all love our kids, but - Ick! Koodie indeed.

@finsbigfan "The evil devil child will eat your "koodies" and make bread from their bones."

I nearly bust a gut. Thanks for the laugh, I needed it. Really, really funny...still laughing.

My eyes ran smoothly to "How to Spatchcock a Turkey" neatly placed to the right hand side.

How is that pronounced, like foodie? It doesn't even make sense. The K doesn't make it "kid who likes food." How about foodettes.

Sounds like a really bad B-list horror film...