By Jenna Campbell
Ask any historian or political scientist, and they’ll tell you that the year 1989 was one of the most significant for international relations in recent times. A pivotal period, it was marked by significant political and social changes including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, and the beginning of the end of the Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe. At home, there were the major tragedies of Hillsborough and the Kegworth Air Disaster, plus Margaret Thatcher’s introduction of Poll Tax, the latter of which led to widespread protests. But away from these seismic global changes, in the Chiang Mai Province of Northern Thailand, a relationship was blossoming. Stay connected with our City Life newsletter here Martin Bannister had travelled to the country for a holiday but while there he met his future wife, Songkran, who worked at the hotel he was staying at. What ensued was a whirlwind romance, with several more trips to Thailand, and then, later that year, their union. They married in Thailand in a traditional ceremony, with family and friends present. The day is marked by a photo showing the couple’s hands tied together with thread symbolising their commitment to one another, and huge, beaming smiles on their faces. Today, that image, though slightly worn by time, hangs from a candy-floss coloured wall in their cafe on Bradshawgate in Bolton town centre. Jing Jai Thai Cafe opened in March, and is the culmination of years of work from the Bannister family, who, after returning to the UK, set up their own takeaway from inside their home in Bolton. As time has evolved, their daughters, Jasmin and Lisa joined the family business and have gone on to open their own street food vans for festivals and events. “The food van has been going since 1995,” recalls Jasmin, who attempts to project her voice over her family who are clattering about in the kitchen. “I say food van, but my parents actually started as a certified takeaway from our house. It was known as Pattakhan back then and I believe they were the first Thai takeaway in Bolton. “It’s hard to translate Pattakhan to English, but it’s sort of to do with class and tiers, it’s almost a word for a special royalty room. “I was about 18 when I got involved in the business and started cooking, but of course, I’ve been wrapping spring rolls since I was a child,” she says with a smile. “I had to learn a lot, like how to make Pad Thai and all the family recipes, because it’s only mum and myself that know those, we don’t trust anybody, it’s not written down, it’s just in our heads. “The food truck has been the Thai Food Van since we took over, it used to be a buttermilk trailer and no one knew what it was, but I said we should jazz it up a bit, and started to design them.” Jasmin’s creative flair is clear to see as soon as you lay eyes upon the cafe; the soft pink colour juxtaposed with the red brick, and carefully drawn illustrations of bubbling curries, heaps of rice and steaming cups of coffee hinting at what lies within. Inside, it’s paired back, but with nods to their journey adorning the walls. A deeply nostalgic photo showing Songkran and her daughters holding hands outside the food van in the early days, is joined by one of her and Martin’s wedding ceremony, and another showing food being sold on a street market in Thailand. Take a seat and you can see straight through to the kitchen where you’ll find all four of them carefully weaving past one another as they tend to a wok full of sizzling vegetables, as well as huge pots of curry. Before this though, the counter serves as an almost apothecary of herbs, spices and plants which the family have handpicked from Thailand and brought back to use in their dishes. Everything from lemongrass and kaffir leaves, to the aromatic galangal is accounted for. “Our origin story is important,” says Jasmin as she proudly looks back towards her family. “All of our herbs are brought over from farms in Chiang Mai, and we sell those in the cabinet. “Summer here is the festival season so it is very busy for us, but during winter we go back to see family but also pick herbs. “It actually takes a lot of time, so if you take all the leaves off a kefir lime tree, you don’t actually get that much once it is vacuum packed.” The blackboard above the counter, meanwhile, details the wide selection of dishes created by the family. Assorted vegetables infused with Thai flavours and wrapped in golden pastry are a mainstay as are their chicken skewers, but favourites of customers include their garlic sesame toast and green curry rolls for starters. Then there’s an array of curries – from Gaeng Garee, known as Thai yellow curry, to the aromatic and crowd pleasing Massaman – as well as delicious, rustic and spicy stir fry with holy basil, their speciality Pad Thai, and egg noodles in an aromatic broth, known as Khao Soi, which is one of the most well known Northern Thai dishes. “We would never buy packet sauce, it’s just not how we do things,” adds Jasmin. “Sometimes people say our Pad Thai tastes better than in Thailand, because even in Thailand they don’t always make their own sauce. “Everywhere in Thailand has different flavours and styles, so it’s hard to say it’s better than that, but our food is true to our family and how we like to cook food.” It’s been a process though, with the family having to find that balance between British tastes and traditional Thai cuisine. “There’s been a lot of back and forth between my mum and dad over the years. Mum would start off cooking things like fish heads and my dad would have to tell her ‘people here won’t eat that’, and then mum basically had to adjust. “For example, Thai curries traditionally are quite thin, like a soup, but British-Indian curries are a bit thicker, and have a bit more substance, ours are somewhere in the middle and we use a lot of rich ingredients into it, we add a bit more coconut, so that’s how we’ve adjusted to the English palette. “It’s a blend of my dad’s kind of preferences, my mum’s heritage, that’s formed our food. “A lot of people can get confused with Chinese cuisine, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if we do salt and pepper chips, or chow mein, it’s painful sometimes, but you just get past it, and you try and support people to try different dishes. Join our Manc Life WhatsApp group HERE “We don’t do chips here, we refuse to do chips, but I’m surprised by how many people have been willing to try the food and have been very adventurous. “I think more people travel nowadays, people from my high school for example have been to trips to Thailand, and love Thai food, I think it’s now more common for people to travel to Asia.” This more adventurous spirit has also allowed them to add a number of traditional teas and coffees to their menu. “For the teas we don’t have any artificial powders, they’re brewed from just tea leaves, and we use a popular brand in Thailand – it’s the golden standard of teas,” explains Jasmin. “It’s served Thai style, just black tea but has star anise, cardamon, and cinnamon added, and that gives a bright orange colour, which is then mixed with evaporated milk – it’s a very popular way of serving. “We have Thai Green Tea too, and while the craze at the moment is matcha in matcha, our version is less bitter, still seeped green tea, but mixed with condensed milk and is a very nostalgic Thai drink from childhood. “For our iced brewed coffee we use a Thai cotton cloth method to seep the coffee which is then squeezed out and then we add evaporated milk. That kind of milk is in everything. “Jing Jai means ‘true heart’, so for example we’re serving food in the truck and someone says how nice the food is, and you just want to keep feeding them, and we always say give from the heart because we know they’re really enjoying the food and that makes us happy too.”