Luu Meng and foodie Darren Gall produce a cookbook with a twist
Cambodia cuisine was very famous around 1965, but the creativity stopped because
of the war,” says renowned Cambodian chef Luu Meng, who has started a
journey to set in stone long-lost recipes.
With evidence of the rich and diverse flavours of Khmer
cooking etched on the walls of the ancient temples of Angkor Wat in the
form of lavish feasts prepared for royalty, traditional recipes have
been passed down through generations orally.
However, as with much of Cambodian culture, any evidence
of refined recipes and the meals enjoyed across the country were
destroyed by the Khmer Rouge.
“It struck me when I first met Meng that when he created
Malis restaurant, he had to rediscover all of these lost cuisines,” says
food and wine expert and Cambodia Sevensea’s co-author, Darren
Gall, who has spent most of his time living in Cambodia since 1999. “So
much was lost that he had to reinvent many dishes. We didn’t want these
recipes to ever be lost again so we decided to document them.”
This desire served as the catalyst for the start of a
series of books showcasing the kingdom’s diverse cuisine in novel ways.
And with Meng’s latest venture – restaurant Sevensea’s, which opened in
January – under way, last year Gall and the masterchef started their
extensive research into compiling the content and photography for Cambodia Sevensea’s, travelling along the Cambodian coast to source long-lost recipes and the stories behind them.
Split into three sections, the first takes readers on a
journey back in time to myths surrounding the sea and the local many
legends centred around the water, such as Nagas, the legend surrounding
Saing Silachey and the sacred conch, and the tale behind the popular
Khmer traditional ballet, The Mermaid and the Monkey.
The second part charts Gall, Meng and his team of chefs’
journey along the coast, taking in Kampot, Kep, Sihanoukville and the
islands.
“This was incredible,” says Gall. “We were privileged to
meet so many amazing people along the way, and we tell their stories.
Sometimes it’s their back stories, other times it’s their passion that
stands out.”
Hunting out the quirky characters who keep the country’s
food chain alive, the team swept through Kep crab market, where they
spoke to the crab ladies who spend their days dipping in and out of the
water to check on the wooden crab cages that dot the coast.
The stretching salt flats near the Vietnamese border
unearthed Nou Bun, who has been a salter for the last four decades. And
having met an abundance of fishermen along the way, Veng stood out as an
expert in his trade, devoting his adult years to shrimping in Indonesia
and his home country, Cambodia.
But it was a trip to Koh Sdach, which sits 1.5km off the
coast in Koh Kong, where they met Cambodia’s Ice Queen, that captivated
Gall the most. Despite its small size – less than 3km long and 1km wide –
the island is a hive of activity among the thriving fishing community.
Home to the sole ice factory in the area, it serves a constant stream of
fishermen needing ice to keep their catch fresh during their time out
at sea.
Thanks to the island being made of rock, sea water is
naturally filtered and purified, providing the source of inspiration for
Panya Heng Ouen and his family to build an ice factory and jetty almost
25 years ago. Today, it runs 24/7, producing its maximum output of
1,700 blocks daily – all of which are snapped up immediately. “The ice
factory keeps the fishing industry alive; it’s the beating heart of the
island,” says Gall.
The final section of the book will leave foodies
salivating as it chronicles the traditions of Chinese, Japanese and
Cambodian cuisine, cooking techniques and the seven chefs creating the
variety of dishes in Meng’s kitchens.
It is also peppered with recipes, including Kampot pepper
crab, shrimp dumplings, Indian fish head curry and oysters with Koh Kong
green chilli sauce.
With the 12 month project now complete, Meng and Gall have
spent this year hitting Cambodia’s dusty tracks in search of the
country’s finest street food for their follow-up – a book about
Cambodian street food, due out later this year.
“Through our book, and through the cuisine inspired by the
places we visited and the people we met, I hope to shine a light on
their efforts, on the quality of their work and on the beauty of these
places, to share it with our guests and with people from all around the
world,” says Meng.
Cambodia Sevensea’s is available to buy at Monument book stores and Almond outlets for $35.
Source: https://www.asialifemagazine.com/cambodia/luu-meng-and-foodie-darren-gall-produce-a-cookbook-with-a-twist/
Comments
Post a Comment