DPA
Phnom Penh - Cambodian-based foodies and restaurateurs have gleefully greeted a prediction by top US magazines Bon Appetit and Gourmet that the nation's food will become 2008's new "It" cuisine. The Conde Nast-owned website Epicurious, which displays information from both magazines, posted the bold statement as a New Year prediction, saying the flavours were more subtle than those of neighbouring Thailand.
"A triangulation between Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai cooking, Cambodian's emphasis on noodle dishes, curries, stir fries and prahok, the strong-flavored fish paste, will grow in popularity," Epicurious wrote.
"Cambodian food has stronger flavors than Vietnamese, slightly more subtle than Thai and is not as heavy as Chinese," it said, indicating it was perfect for figure-conscious celebrities looking for exotic tastes without Thai spice.
A prominent food expert, Australian Phil Lees, posted the link on his website Wednesday, cheekily throwing down a challenge to the huge international popularity of Thai food.
Although allies, Thais and Cambodians are historical rivals, and cultural experts from the two countries are constantly bickering over issues of cultural sovereignty.
In January 2003, rumoured comments by a Thai soap actress that the sacred Angkor Wat temple complex, featured on the Cambodian flag, was rightfully Thai resulted in an angry Cambodian mob burning the Thai embassy and a number of Thai businesses.
"A triangulation between Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai cooking, Cambodian's emphasis on noodle dishes, curries, stir fries and prahok, the strong-flavored fish paste, will grow in popularity," Epicurious wrote.
"Cambodian food has stronger flavors than Vietnamese, slightly more subtle than Thai and is not as heavy as Chinese," it said, indicating it was perfect for figure-conscious celebrities looking for exotic tastes without Thai spice.
A prominent food expert, Australian Phil Lees, posted the link on his website Wednesday, cheekily throwing down a challenge to the huge international popularity of Thai food.
Although allies, Thais and Cambodians are historical rivals, and cultural experts from the two countries are constantly bickering over issues of cultural sovereignty.
In January 2003, rumoured comments by a Thai soap actress that the sacred Angkor Wat temple complex, featured on the Cambodian flag, was rightfully Thai resulted in an angry Cambodian mob burning the Thai embassy and a number of Thai businesses.
6 comments:
Cambodian foods rule!
Khmer forever! Yuon out of Cambodia!
Millions of eat them. We did not die and hope it won't do any harm to other either. Prahok perhaps is our way to introduce live microrganism to our body to test our immune system and to promote antitbodies in fighting the common cold and allergy where the West use yogut.
Well, if you won't mind this strong -fish paste scent like us, you're more than welcome to try. :)
Ordinary Khmers
I wasn't a prohok eater until my recent trip to Cambodia. I divoured on prohok ktist almost every other days while I was there for two weeks and love it!
I love Cambodian cuisine. However, outside of the Long Beach/LA and Lowell/Boston areas, Cambodian restaurants are kind of sparse and not many can be found. Most of them either shut down or call themselves "Thai" restaurants or some are just noodle soup-only joints.
Hopefully, with such encouraging articles such as the one from the magazine, some Cambodian-American folks can ponder about opening up Cambodian cuisine eateries, given the available finance for such a venture.
I still like prohoc ktis, but after living away from Cambodia for 2.5 decades, I can't swallow any Khmer soup with prohoc taste in it. I instantly have headache.
I rather use fish sauce and some butter to replace prohoc when cooking.
We didn't really need to use Prahok, but what are going to do with all those fishes? We did not invent refrigerator. There are plently of sunshine. We guess, our own ancestors had figures that out that they can do something with it. So there is Prahok! Let all of them sit under the sun long enough, it will be alright. Talking about the ultra violet light from the sun! It kills the cells in our skin. We don't thingk , those things inside fishes can handle that too well either. Take a guess!:)and Prahok from Siem Reap? Our mothers want them. She surely can do something with it and if they cook them, we'll eat it!Yummy! yummy!:)
Ordinary Khmers
Post a Comment