MY PHNOM PENH: Luu Meng, Chef and Entrepreneur
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon | Publication date 19
August 2016 | 00:00 ICT
Phnom Penh’s Luu Meng – the chef and
partner at renowned Topaz and Malis restaurants, CEO of Almond Group and vice-president
of the Cambodia Tourism Federation.
Phnom Penh’s Luu Meng – the chef and
partner at renowned Topaz and Malis restaurants, CEO of Almond Group and
vice-president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation – says food is in his DNA. He
sat down this week with Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon to talk about the places in
the capital that have marked his life and career.
The Cambodiana Hotel
I grew up in a Cambodian refugee
camp in Thailand, like many Cambodians who left during the time between 1975
and 1979. My family came back in the late 1980s and I enrolled in a local
Chinese school, not a brand-name [international] school. I then began working
at the Sofitel Cambodiana – now The Cambodiana – and this is how I met Arnaud
Darc [his partner in Topaz and Malis]. I was asked to join him in his family
business. I was a trainee cook at The Cambodiana and he was a cost controller.
We decided to open a small business – we’re talking about 20 years ago… We did
not imagine that growing every year would continue like this to what it is now.
The Royal Palace
My grandmother was a cook in the
Royal Palace kitchens. I know a number of chefs who have worked there and who
work there [now]. It is very important to value what they are doing and continue
to pass on the knowledge of the cooking [to the next generation]. When you say
cooking is an art, and put all this effort into how the food looks, I call this
eating by smartphone. But if people really love food, then you’re talking about
people who already know what a good recipe is.
La Ferme de Bassac Butchery
[Phnom Penh] really needs a
centralised slaughterhouse. For the meat at our restaurants, 90 per cent is
Cambodian. Imported meat is just a different quality; it is already
slaughtered, so [the need for an industrial slaughterhouse] is a separate
question. This is about good common sense, for Cambodian people to get meat
from a clean and proper slaughterhouse. We get our meat from selected local
butchers, but also from a French butcher [at La Ferme de Bassac]. His name is
Thierry, and I like to support him and work with him. [It is] a small butcher
and he has a good selection of quality. The [wholesale] Cambodian butchers I go
to are one in O’Russey Market and one in Phsar Damko – so just two, and that is
for specific cuts.
Fresh Produce Markets
I work with a lot of people with
agricultural passion; the best idea is to cook with those products. In every
province they have something in the markets that is like that, and sometimes I
go out of the country to find things. In Phnom Penh, Central Market is one of
the best in terms of access and hygiene, cleanliness and air circulation. It is
probably the best market for daily use in the country. But then you have
wholesale markets for professionals like O’Russey and Phsar Damko. In the
private sector and government, we need to do a lot of work to improve the
conditions [in those markets].
Bun Xiao Shop
My mother’s shop – which [before the
Khmer Rouge] was located on Sothearos Boulevard opposite what is now the Smart
shop – specialized in bun xiao, the Cambodian-Vietnamese thin-pancake dish. Her
name is Diep Cheang, but back then she was known as the bun xiao king, and the
people called her shop the empire of the bun xiao. If you ask people who are
over the age of 65 or 70, they will know it. She was really famous and cooked
with seven different woks. Her method is how my staff are taught. I asked my
mom to teach her bun xiao method. Cooking is the same as driving: you need to
know how to handle different stoves and ovens like different roads. Now for bun
xiao, you can get it on Sokhok Street; if not [there] then at the Food Court on
the second floor at World Dining at Aeon Mall [one of Meng’s ventures].
Source: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/my-phnom-penh-luu-meng-chef-and-entrepreneur
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