DeKALB — As part of their Southeast Asia Lecture Series, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies hosted Mark Padoongpatt, author of “Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America,” on Friday.

Every Friday, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies showcases different cultures and the history behind them. The most recent focus was on Thai culture, food and history, starting with the newly published book by Padoongpatt.

Padoongpatt was born and raised in Los Angeles as a first-generation Thai American. Padoongpatt said he was surrounded by people who knew nothing about the culture in Thailand except the food. He said this changed his vision of originally writing about Thai people and the history to now including food in his book. He said he wanted to include the aspect of food, which people already knew about, to show the other aspects of Thailand as well.

“Let’s try to offer an answer for why Thai food has become so hyper visible and then Thai people still are invisible,” Padoongpatt said.

Growing up, Padoongpatt wanted to share his knowledge of Thai culture with the people of Los Angeles. As he observed celebrities, he noticed the impact they have on their fans.

He said Prince eating Thai food helped give Thai food some status.

Padoongpatt said Thai food chefs are more than just cooks. He sees them as artists because they are not chefs to make profit; they want to innovate and constantly create better dishes.

Padoongpatt said he hopes to educate people on the human condition and the world. He hopes people will use their experiences to learn about society and culture, despite having a small community.

“I think [Thai] history is one thread to this larger story,” Padoongpatt said.

The NIU community, as well as the DeKalb and Sycamore community, was invited to explore the history of Thai food and a speech from Padoongpatt. Some people came to hear Padoongpatt’s speech and try Thai food, while others took back what they learned to apply the knowledge to their own projects.

Purwanti Kusumaningtyas, a resident of the DeKalb community, was a participant of the event. She came from Indonesia for 10 weeks to publish an article for a program called Enhancing International Publication.

“Particularly, today’s lecture is very inspiring,” Kusumaningtyas said. “It’s good to know that from a very simple thing, you can get along with other people.”

Graduate student Rachael Shog plans the lectures and finds speakers every week to share their knowledge of an aspect of culture. In addition to speeches at the event, Chef Kenneth, who cooks for every event, pairs his food with the topic of the week. In the next few months, Southeast Asian Studies will be exploring archeology in Cambodia, Vietnam, ethnomusicologist and NGO work in Thailand.