Condolences from SRP-Massachusetts

In Lowell, true Cambodian fare

February 05, 2012
By Kathleen Pierce
Boston Globe Correspondent

Simply Khmer
26 Lincoln St., Lowell
978-454-6700
Open daily, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
All major credit cards accepted
Handicapped accessible

Living in Lowell, the question often arises: “Where should I go for Cambodian food?’’ Until now I’ve not had a surefire answer. The city is awash in Southeast Asian restaurants that lump Cambodian cuisine with Vietnamese, Thai, and Laotian. A true Cambodian restaurant that doesn’t serve pad Thai or pho takes some sleuthing.

On a tip from a gallery owner, I visited Simply Khmer and found my answer. Flavorful soup, perfectly wrapped nam chow, endless pots of jasmine tea, and the savory, sweet and sour essence of this faraway land come into play with each freshly prepared dish. It’s been a while since a meal was this invigorating.

Tucked away on Lincoln Street, between downtown and the Highlands neighborhood, Simply Khmer is not suffering from its off-the-grid location.

New councilors in Lynn, Lowell a milestone for Cambodian community

Hong L. Net was sworn in this week as a Lynn city councilor. Net is believed to be one of the first Cambodian-American councilors in the nation. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

January 5, 2012
By John Laidler
Boston Globe Correspondent (Massachusetts, USA)

When Hong L. Net and Vesna Nuon took their oaths as city councilors this week, it marked the official start of their tenures as municipal officials but also a defining moment for the region’s Cambodian-American community.

Net, who won a Lynn City Council seat last November, and Nuon, who earned a seat on the Lowell City Council, are believed to be the second and third Cambodian-Americans in the country to be elected to city councils.

Rithy Uong, whose election to the Lowell City Council in 1999 made him the first, said he is not aware of any other Cambodian-Americans nationally who have won council seats.

Although still elated at their electoral wins, Net and Nuon - both Cambodian natives - are looking ahead to their new role as leaders of their adopted cities.

Cambodian fare steps up a notch

January 1, 2012
STEVEN A. ROSENBERG
Boston Globe (Massachusetts, USA)

Apsara Angkor Restaurant

• 877 Western Ave., Lynn
• 781-477-6045
• Open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. ; Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to midnight
• Credit cards accepted
• Accessible to the handicapped

For years, the Cambodian restaurant Mittapheap, just blocks away from Lynn’s General Electric plant on Western Avenue, served as an oasis to Cambodian natives and adventurous Americans who wanted home-cooked Cambodian fare without driving to Boston.

Enter Sokhoeun Chea, who lives a few blocks from the restaurant and was a regular at Mittapheap in between his management jobs at a department store and a night club. Chea, who is 48, survived the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and lived in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines before arriving in Revere. There, he persuaded school officials to allow him to go to high school - and despite being 20 and sitting in a classroom for the first time in his life, he learned how to read, write, and speak English.

“This is my second life in America. This is my heaven,’’ explained Chea on a chilly evening last week in Lynn. Chea purchased the restaurant property on Dec. 1, and since then he has tinkered with Mittapheap’s extensive, formerly 50-page menu - slimming down some of the repetitive offerings, such as meat-based soups - while sitting with customers and conducting his own research. He says his management experience has taught him that the customer comes first and is always right.

Vote for Cambodian-American Hong Net for Councilor at Large in Lynn, Massachusetts

For additional information on Hong Net, please click: http://votehong.net/home.html

The Elephant Walk chefs share their history in the restaurant business and an easy family Ecuadorian−style soup recipe

Nadsa and Lonteine de Monteiro prepare French-Cambodian cuisine at Boston’s renowned The Elephant Walk. (Courtesy Nadsa de Monteiro)

How to make avocado citrus soup, Ecuadorian style

Monday, October 4, 2010
By Jon Cheng
The Tufts Daily (Tufts Univ., Medford, Massachusetts, USA)

Nadsa de Monteiro and her mother Longteine de Monteiro, chef−owners of the Massachusetts restaurant chain The Elephant Walk, claim that their family was the first to bring Cambodian cuisine to Boston when The Elephant Walk opened in 1991.

The restaurant gained renown almost immediately - Esquire Magazine named it one of America's Best New Restaurants in 1992 - but the de Monteiros attribute the restaurant's success to the decades of hardship they experienced before its establishment.

Nadsa, who oversees operations of the restaurant's three branches, said The Elephant Walk's menu, which she calls "three parts Cambodian and one part French," derives directly from her family's background.

Though she was born in Cambodia, her father's work as a diplomat and ambassador brought her to Yugoslavia, the Philippines and Taipei before her family was finally forced to take asylum in France to escape massacres brought on by the Khmer Rouge's takeover of the Cambodian government in 1975, she said. Nadsa's grandmother and uncle were among the fatalities in the country's infamous "Killing Fields" period.

It was in France where her affinity for French cuisine developed, Nadsa said, and where her mother began cooking.

"Before France, my mother has always been the ambassador's wife, so she didn't have to cook," Nadsa said, but when they moved to France, her mother taught herself how to cook in order to preserve the family's standard of living. "My sister and I, when we came home from school, had an amazing spread of food that she prepared."

Soon after her move to France, Nadsa moved again - this time to the United States to work as a travel agent - while her parents stayed in France, hoping to immigrate eventually but having been denied refugee status.

In the meantime, Longteine quickly became a skilled culinarian and decided to turn cooking into a profession. She pawned her jewelry to open up a restaurant, Amrita, which saw success during its 10−year run. After Nadsa became a naturalized citizen, Longteine and Nadsa's father were finally able to move to the United States and they left Amrita behind. Upon their reunion, Nadsa was drawn into the culinary world, "mostly by necessity and mostly by chance," she said.

"Until my parents moved here, I never cooked. Then, I got sucked into the restaurant business," Nadsa said. "So I went to get culinary training in France [under Michelin−starred chef Yves Thuris], but I also learned from eating my mother's food."

After graduating from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and working as sous−chef at The Elephant Walk for two years, Nadsa succeeded her mother as executive chef. From then on, the restaurant's success has been overwhelming, she said.

"We've been receiving the Best of Boston award every year for the last 10 years. Just last year we were inducted in the magazine's Hall of Fame," she said. "We have also published an ‘Elephant Walk' cookbook that is being sold in bookstores and on Amazon.com."

Once a week, Nadsa holds a Saturday morning cooking class with her mother and brother−in−law chef Gerard Lopez that usually draws in eight to 18 people.

"We've had couples, even teenagers take the class - the youngest one being nine years old and the oldest one 81 years old," she said.

Due to the establishments' proximity to nearby colleges, the classes and restaurants alike tend to attract a lot of students. But the family still strives to further spread the culture of their food to younger generations.

"Don't be afraid to taste new things; be adventurous. Hamburgers, fries and pizza aren't the only things - Boston now has tons of ethnic foods. If you're limiting your scope, that's your own problem," Nadsa said.

To help, she offers a simple recipe for a chilled avocado citrus soup, which students can easily whip up in their own kitchens (see page 3).

"This is a recipe that was inspired by one of my trips to Ecuador," Nadsa said. "I brought it back, played with it, recreated it and put it on the menu five years ago. It's just a big hit and everybody just loved it. I get requests for it all the time. Anybody can make this. If you can't make it, you're an idiot."

Lynn Cambodian community invited to City Hall

May 15, 2010
By David Liscio
The Daily Item

LYNN - Thousands of Cambodians live in Lynn, but many have never set foot in City Hall out of fear or simply because they are unaware of available municipal services.

Ward 5 Councilor Brendan Crighton wants to change their way of thinking, which is why he has partnered with the local Khmer Cultural Planning Committee to host Cambodian Community Day today at City Hall.

According to Crighton, the Cambodian communities in Lynn and Lowell combined make up the third largest concentration of Khmer-speaking people in the world, yet many of these immigrants do not take advantage of local clinics, translators or direct services.

To remedy the situation, Lynn residents of Cambodian origin have been invited into the City Council's chamber from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a community meeting.

"The purpose of the meeting is to provide information on city services to the Cambodian community and to welcome them to City Hall," said Crighton, noting that the event will include presentations by local officials as well as a chance for the public to ask questions about city services.

Kirirath "A.J." Saing, a volunteer in Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy's office, will assist with language translation. Members of the Khmer Cultural Planning Committee will be present to share ideas on how to foster inter-cultural dialogue in the city. The committee meets regularly to discuss ways to preserve and share the culture and heritage of Cambodia. It also plans the city's annual Cambodian New Year celebration.

"Lynn has one of the largest Cambodian populations in the world and it's important that we as a city have a strong partnership with them," said Crighton.

The city council said he hopes to start what will become an ongoing discussion between local government and the Cambodian community.

"We had a good showing at Cambodian New Year, so we've asked people to come down and familiarize themselves with city services," he said. "The city has medical clinics and we might touch upon that, but this whole event is geared to city government and available services. We want to build their trust and make them more comfortable. As a city government, we're ready to head in that direction."

Crighton said many Lynn residents are unaware of Cambodia's history of genocide and the so-called killing fields that left millions dead only three decades ago.

In addition to information on city services, the event will be highlighted by performances of traditional Cambodian dance. Lynn Cam has volunteered to tape the event, which will allow those who are unable to attend to watch on live television or on reruns.

Community News from Wat Triratanaram about His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda

Community News

His Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda passed away last year, March 12, B.E.2550, C.E.2007 Year of the Boar in North Adams, Massachusetts, United States of America.

His funeral and memorial services were held for about one month at Wat Triratanaram, North Chelmsford (Lowell) in Massachusetts. Many Buddhist monks, devotees, included international guests attended. Some Buddhist monks and devotees did not have a chance to pay their final respect then.

His holy body has been transported from Wat Dhammikaram in Providence last Saturday to Wat Triratanaram.

The Holiness Samdech Maha Ghosananda was born in Takeo province, Cambodia [during the colonial French era, where France colonized this nation for almost 100 years].

He established the first Khmer Buddhist temple, Wat Dhammikaram, in the United States of America. He is well known to the international and national communities. He is the father of peace and Dhammayatra in Cambodia. He is one of the important figures in the peace negotiation for Cambodia to end the conflict that led to the Oct. 23, 1991 peace agreements on Cambodia. Then the UNTAC or UN-organized historic national elections that we [Cambodia] have today with multi-party system.

If you missed attending His funeral and memorial services in 2007, this is another chance. He had sacrificed and accomplished so much for Cambodia, Khmers, and Buddhism, especially world peace.

Link to his brief biography: http://www.templenews.info/biographies/index.htm.

For inquiries, please contact the Khmer Buddhist Monks Community-United States at 978-251-2507, or via this email address: maha_natha@yahoo.com or via our Templenews TV's email at templenewscast@yahoo.com

Templenews