Cambodia on a Plate Cuisine
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Cambodia on a PLATE Promoting sustainable tourism through local products 2 Cambodia on a PLATE Cambodia on a PLATE just about everything. But the most unique Cambodian ingredient is prahok, fermented fish paste which is used with much greater reserve than fish sauce so that when it does appear, it signals the food as distinctly Cambodian. Cambodian cuisine possesses the brightness of flavour of Vietnamese cuisine, the depth and richness of Indian cuisine banana flower salad, stir fried eggplant (aubergine) and ma chou kroeung with beef and the versatility of Chinese cuisine. However, it stands and bitterness, with a keen on its own in uniqueness and Cambodian cuisine is appreciation for textures. complexity. While bursting uniquely different from From India, by way of Java, with flavour, this cuisine also neighboring Thailand and offers a diet with very little Vietnam, to which it is most Cambodians have inherited the art of blending spice fat, using generous amounts often compared. It derives of fresh vegetables, fruits and its flavour from spices and paste which they have made their own by adding seafood with rice as a staple, aromatic herbs, with little use making it one of the world’s of fat and meats. indigenous aromatic herbs such as lemongrass, galangal healthiest, most balanced Fresh vegetables, ripe and and kaffir lime. and most interesting cuisines. unripe fruits and fish are used With thanks to Nadsa de in abundance. This cuisine is There is an abundance of both fresh and seawater Monteiro, Executive Chef a combination of complex, of The Elephant Walk vibrant flavors, and a very fish in Cambodia which is salted, dried, smoked, and restaurants in the Boston delicate balance between area, USA. saltiness, sweetness, sourness fermented. As in Vietnam, fish sauce is served in and with www.elephantwalk.com Why ‘Cambodia on a a frequent performer in Paris group of dedicated chefs plate’? in the early and mid part of are winning international the last century, has trained a plaudits for their passion for No part of Cambodia’s new troupe that performs on Cambodian food. cultural heritage escaped the world tours. Khmer shadow ravages of the 1970s and puppetry (sbaek thom) is ‘Cambodia on a Plate’ 1980s and it has taken at recognised by UNESCO as aims to inspire visitors and least as long to rebuild it. one of only 89 ‘Masterpieces local businesses to explore of the oral and intangible and enjoy Cambodian More than a million tourists Heritage of Humanity’ in the cuisine and, in the process, visit the fabled temples of world. encourage greater local Angkor each year, a UNESCO benefit from tourism through World Heritage site that is Cambodians are also re- the purchase and use of being restored and protected. discovering the rich history locally-grown and locally- The Cambodian Royal Ballet, of their own cuisine and a made products. CONTENTS 3 4 More than just fish amok 12 12 Must-try dishes 18 Try this at home Joannès Rivière, star chef, A selection of dishes that Some great easy recipes to try author of a Cambodian captures some of the best at home. cookbook and a self-confessed tastes, textures and colours of fan of the cuisine, talks about Cambodian cuisine. more than just fish amok. 6 Fresh, fragrant, flavour 14 When in Rome . 20 Cooking up a storm Cambodian markets teem with A quick guide to what and If food is at the heart of a mounds of colourful fruits, where Cambodians are eating, culture, then what better way to vegetables and herbs. Here’s a as well as a heart-warming story get to know Cambodia than by quick guide. about recovered rice seeds. taking a cooking class while you are here? 8 Cambodian take-away 16 Beautiful books 22 Restaurants As decades-old peppercorn A quick guide to the handful An increasing number of plantations are slowly brought of English-language books restaurants are serving up back to life, these and other about Cambodian cuisine - all delicious Cambodian cuisine, products make beautiful gifts to playing their part in reviving and for all budgets. take back home. preserving this wonderful part of Cambodia’s culture. 10 Reviving Cambodian cuisine With thanks to Thanks also to Joannès Friends International for Rivière and Nadsa de permission to use some of Monteiro for valuable the photos on pages 10, advice on Cambodian 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19 cuisine, and to the many and 21 and reproduce producers listed on pages the recipes on pages 18, 8 and 9 for providing 19 and 20. photographs. Two chefs are working together to breathe life into Cambodian cuisine. than just fish amok 4 MORE There’s more to Cambodian cuisine than the famous dish, fi sh amok, and the nuances are worth seeking out says Joannès Rivière, star chef, a self-confessed fan of the cuisine and author of a Cambodian cookbook. and Cambodia’s, finest restaurants, and created its highly acclaimed Khmer Tasting Menu. Joannès has also penned the first and only French book on Cambodian cuisine (an English version is due soon) and is currently working on another book, “about the state of Cambodian cuisine today.” … the best thing “about Cambodian food is how primary tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter and spicy) are balanced “Thailand, Cambodia not in a single dish The biggest misconception and Vietnam share similar but in the group on travellers have about climate and soils and the the table. Cambodian cuisine is that ingredients are more or less it’s a poorer cousin to Thai the same. The Khmer empire ” and Vietnamese cuisines. occupied the whole area Joannès wasn’t an While conceding that there for centuries so Cambodian immediate convert to the are similarities, like the cuisine has given its cuisine. His first encounters parallels between Spanish, neighbours probably as with local food were in Provencal and Italian much as it has received from touristy restaurants in cuisine, Joannès is adamant them. Siem Reap and the French that Cambodian cuisine man wasn’t impressed. should be taken in its own “Cambodian cuisine is simple to prepare and cook He remembers, “At first right. it seemed to me that all Cambodian snacks but it is tasty, healthy and interesting.” ingredients just ended up in a soup. I even suggested Joannès should know. He that we stop teaching first came to Cambodia Cambodian food as I in 2003 as a training chef believed it would not be with Sala Bai, a hospitality useful for the students.” school for disadvantaged Cambodian youth, based in Then he discovered the Siem Reap. great variety of ingredients Cambodian markets had to Since then, he has worked offer, from exotic fruits and as executive chef at Meric, vegetables to familiar meats one of Siem Reap’s, and greens, and fell in love. MORE Than Just Fish Amok 5 He started to learn the language too and met people who invited him to their houses or to great but unknown restaurants. Joannès says, “To become a supporter of Cambodian cuisine I had to discover Cambodian culture and language.” Variety is one of the best things about Cambodian cuisine, he says, rattling off a list of dishes and delicacies that few travellers have heard of and must try and he is passionate about promoting Deum Kor market, Phnom Penh local produce. He says, bok (pounded dishes) are an unexplored Joannès Rivière on fi sh, part that deserve to be better prahok and different known: pounded sesame, categories of vegetables. pounded coconut, pounded pea eggplant, pounded long bean and so on. Soups are also very important and offer a wide range of flavours and textures. prahok) are all extremely “But the best thing about important ingredients in Cambodian food is how Khmer food. primary tastes (salty, sweet, crabs at the market sour, bitter and spicy) are Vegetables and fruits balanced not in a single dish Fresh water fi sh but in the group on the table.” These are divided into 3 types. The FAO (Food and Some are cultivated on For those looking to Agriculture Organisation) a small scale around experience authentic estimates that there are over the house (lemongrass, Cambodian cuisine, Joannes 500 varieties of fresh water galangal, camphored has this advice – “Get away fish of commercial interest in galangal and turmeric, and from tourist spots.” Cambodia. different types of gourds, He suggests, “Ask locals to 70% of the protein consumed eggplant and fruits). recommend a good place to in Cambodia comes from Some are taken from the eat, ask waitresses what is the the Tonle Sap Lake and the wild and planted near the speciality in their restaurants, Mekong. This includes fish, house, like krosang (Java and be adventurous. but also shrimps, crabs, snails, feronilla, a soup fruit used Cambodians have good frogs, snakes, etc. There are for many things), water lily standards of hygiene and 10 times more fish per cubic or ngno and noni tree, for local restaurants prepare and kilometre in the Lake than in the fruits or leaves. cook food fresh each day. the Atlantic Ocean. According to my personal Some are foraged from the experience, the places that As Europeans created cheese wild including all kinds of make you sick are never the in order to preserve milk, sour leaves, plants used as ones you expect.” Cambodians have done the crudités, (unloah in Khmer) same with fresh water fish. and wild roots (eight types Dried fish, smoked fish, salted of wild yam are eaten in fish and fish pastes (including Cambodia) 6 FRESH, fragrant and full of flavour Cambodian markets teem with mounds of colourful and aromatic fruits, vegetables and herbs.