thai food & chilis

Last night Big Jim and I finally got around to trying the Thai restaurant that opened months ago in nearby Archez. And I am happy to report, we will be going back. Archez sits in the valley below Canillas, and because it lacks the Med views of the villages perches above, it has managed to remain relatively free of expats. Quick sidebar: Big Jim just sat down to eat his breakfast, and guess what he's having? A BAGEL! An English grocery that just opened on the coast is selling bagels, and our neighbor U., knowing how I lament over the absence of bagels in Spain, brought us a 4-pack yesterday. I haven't tried them yet because I'm waiting until after we go shopping later today so that I can have mine with cream cheese and smoked salmon. Big Jim's assessment: "not perfect, but very good." I'll take that. When my parents visited this past March, they brought us a half dozen or so. One morning during their stay, I asked my mother what she wanted for breakfast. She replied, "I think I'd like a bagel." My stomach sunk. I then I asked my father what he wanted, and he also answered, "Bagel sounds good." I did the math; that would leave Big Jim and I with 4 bagels to fight over. My heart sunk. Suddenly I found my eyes welling up with tears. My mother asked what was wrong; I had to explain that her selfish daughter had waited in great anticipation for 7 months for a bagel and didn't want to share. I felt about 5 years old. My parents relinquished their claims on the bagels, as they can have proper bagels whenever they wish back home, but I quickly froze them just in case they changed their minds. :-) [We have since returned from our shopping trip, and I had one of the bagels for lunch. Very, very good, and I shared some of the salmon with C.K.] Archez is an incredibly precious village. One of our guests described it as unreal feeling, as if she was on a movie set. The centerpiece of Archez is a 13th century Moorish tower, and most of the village must be seen on foot. The streets are particularly narrow; even the main street leading into the village is only wide enough for one car to pass. The Thai restaurant is situated near the bottom of Archez, and one needs to turn onto a dirt path through a farmer's field to access the parking lot. We ate on the patio underneath a canopy of vines, the latticework sagging slightly from the weight of the enormous, ripening bunches of grapes. The creek that runs from Maroma down through the valley provided the ultrarelaxing sounds of babbling water. One could not ask for a more idyllic setting. I had Thai dumplings and Big Jim had a hot soup (sorry, can't remember the name) to start. The dumplings were amazing, and Big Jim raved similarly about his soup. My chicken panang entree was excellent, although Big Jim was slightly disappointed his pork in spicy red curry wasn't hotter (as in heat from the chili). My only letdown of the meal was the noodles we ordered as a side. They were way too salty and nothing to write home about. Big Jim's are far better. We did have a nice chat with the owners, and they seemed genuinely excited that we could say "We liked the food" and "Thank you" in Thai (which we have to thank G.'s Thai girlfriend for teaching us during their visit in May). Big Jim and the chef discussed the various chili peppers they raise. Big Jim grows many varieties of chilis on our roof terrace, some local and some from seeds from the US. Everyone who visits us is required to take a tour of the B.J.'s pepper garden. I admit I tease him about this, but I have benefited greatly from his efforts. He strings them into ristras, which decoratively hang drying in our kitchen until it is time to pop one or two into a pot of chili or curry. Big Jim also uses them to make his own tabasco sauces and chili pastes and mashes, which happily end up my belly when he cooks up his fantastic Thai chicken or szechuan stirfry. Therefore, I strongly encourage this hobby of his. My only question is, and if somebody knows the answer please post a comment, why do English people spell chili with two ll's (ie, chilli)? It just seems all wrong to me. hasta luego, mylifeinspain