Tasty travel (part 8). Currywurst: A culinary adventure begins in Phuket, Thailand

I would like to recount my first meal in Phuket, Thailand. It was Thanksgiving in 2003 when my friends and I had just checked into our Patong resort. We walked toward the beach in search for lunch. For reasons that became clearer to me years later, we compromised on an eclectic international cafe with bar seating under an outdoor canopy.

I think we may have been the only customers around, which I often find to be a bad sign, but the unlikely mix of Mexican and German food had me curious. This also came after my flight from Bangkok, where I sat next to a nice older couple from Germany who were astonished that an American studied their language in university. I suspected, correctly as it turns out, that Thailand is a common holiday destination for Germans.

So I should not have been too surprised to see something called currywurst on the menu. The spicy fusion of east and west is a natural pairing in retrospect. The dish served to me, however, was a sausage drenched in American ketchup with a sprinkle of yellow curry powder.

The meat itself seemed relatively authentic and the fries were crispy. Yet, since the curry was only on top, I had to eat with great care and fervor in order to even notice the intended flavor. Otherwise it was lost amidst the sauce. There is a reason why marinating makes such a difference…

Overall, I could appreciate the ketchup in a far off land since I am from Pittsburgh, but I was disappointed by the lackluster execution of an ambitious idea. I wrote currywurst off as a unique dish from a Phuket tourist trap and expected never to see it again. How wrong I was.