Thai E-Sarn

Tasanee Marshall (née Suchatawat) was born in a small village in Northeast Thailand in 1961. Isaan (also known as Isan or Esarn) is Thailand’s largest region. Bordering Laos, it shares much of its cuisine, including staples such as sticky rice, larb and som tam (green papaya salad).

Like most families in the region, Tasanee’s were very poor, living off cheap but healthy meals which were mostly meat-free. She learnt to cook from a young age as the children were expected to prepare dinner for when their parents got home from work.

Tasanee married young and she learnt to cook more extravagant meals with the help of her mother-in-law. She was widowed in her twenties but managed to support her two children by running a food stall selling typical Isaan dishes and specialising in som tam. In 2000, Tasanee moved to New Zealand in the hope of a better life for her family. In 2004, she met Arthur Marshall, a long-time produce trader, at one of the lunch bars where she worked, and they married the following year.

It was Tasanee’s dream to have her own food business and, after experiencing repeated exploitation, she promised that if she ever managed to do it, she would treat the staff well. In 2015 Tasanee and Arthur opened a stall in Auckland’s much-loved Food Alley and quickly became known for serving some of New Zealand’s best som tam. Sadly, Food Alley closed in 2020, after 28 years, leaving stall-owners with nothing. “The building was sold and we had no clause to cover such an event. The building was to be demolished, so overnight we lost everything”, says Arthur.

After saving, begging and borrowing, and despite COVID, they bought the lease on a new restaurant on Hobson Street a year later. Despite the hard work, Tasanee loves her job and has a team of three chefs, all from Isaan: Mr Pec, Mr Sam and PA, who all say they’re treated like family.

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Som tam is still the restaurant’s most popular dish, especially with Thai customers. A hand-written som tam menu sits by the counter, listing multiple variations of the dish. Thanks to Arthur’s contacts from 50 years as a produce trader, the restaurant has a constant supply of Fijian green papaya, which Tasanee says are closest in taste and texture to the Thai version. Many Thai restaurants in New Zealand use carrot and other substitutes as getting the right green papaya is either too difficult or too expensive, whereas Thai E-Sarn prides itself on always using the best ingredients throughout the year, regardless of the price.

Tasanee makes her own fish sauce from scratch, a process which she says is a dying art. The fish is thoroughly cleaned, mixed with salt, crushed rice and a few secret ingredients before being left to ferment for a whole year.

Another one of Tasanee’s specialities is Thai sausage, which she also makes from scratch and hangs to dry for two days. Recently, Tasanee has had less time to make them, making the sausages a rare treat.

Thai E-Sarn has built a loyal following, with customers travelling from around the North Island for a taste of their authentic Isaan cooking. For Tasanee, authenticity has always mattered more than convenience, and every dish she serves pays tribute to the food she grew up with in Isaan.