Cambodia: A Feast For Every Sense
by sunny
There's no better way to discover the real Cambodia than by mixing a river safari with a culinary odyssey, says Richard Strange.
Stéphane Delourme, still in his chef's whites, is smoking a cigarette on the terrace of Pacharan, Phnom Penh's elegant riverside restaurant. The lightning from an electric storm illuminates his face. He is exhausted but content. He raises a glass of white wine and toasts no one in particular. "We did it! We did it!" he repeats, in his irresistible French accent.
As the culmination of a two-week long Cambodian adventure, part-river safari, part-culinary odyssey, Delourme has just cooked a five-course dinner for 60 guests at one of the city’s hottest restaurants, and the evening has been a triumph.
For nine years, Brittany-born Delourme has been head chef at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall. Wishing to broaden his culinary horizons, Delourme persuaded Stein to let him take a two-week sabbatical and join a Culinary Tour of Cambodia, organised by the Wild Frontiers, a tour company that specialises in edgy, off-the-beaten-track destinations and themes.
The plan was to start in Siem Reap, the nearest town to the temples of Angkor Wat. It was here, at the elegant but funky FCC hotel, a fine colonial-style establishment whose cool contemporary-ethnic rooms are the perfect retreat, and whose bar is lively but not raucous, that I first met Delourme.
Our party of nine included Andrew Ridgeley, formerly George Michael's partner in the Eighties group Wham! and his ebullient girlfriend Keren Woodward, of Bananarama.
An unashamed gourmet, Ridgeley is both venerable and serious, a surfer in his adopted Cornwall who has become a prominent local environmentalist in the cause of water quality. Keren, still singing, still laughing, is the girl whom time left alone ��" gorgeous, voluptuous and enormous fun.
Our happy band was completed by Peter of Sullivan, the tour leader from Wild Frontiers. A former musician, On Sullivan first went out to Cambodia in the early Nineties to clear landmines. He has been going back ever since, as a journalist, tour guide and researcher for Wild Frontiers, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Khmer culture and politics.
The temple visits done, our time in Siem Reap was spent trawling the vast fruit, vegetable and fish markets for local produce with our Cambodian guide and translator Vudthy (pronounced "Watti").
The fertile Cambodian land produces mountains of fresh food, and more than 300 species of freshwater fish are hauled daily from the Tonle Sap lake and river.
About the Author
http://www.orientaldiscovery.com/
There's no better way to discover the real Cambodia than by mixing a river safari with a culinary odyssey, says Richard Strange.
Stéphane Delourme, still in his chef's whites, is smoking a cigarette on the terrace of Pacharan, Phnom Penh's elegant riverside restaurant. The lightning from an electric storm illuminates his face. He is exhausted but content. He raises a glass of white wine and toasts no one in particular. "We did it! We did it!" he repeats, in his irresistible French accent.
As the culmination of a two-week long Cambodian adventure, part-river safari, part-culinary odyssey, Delourme has just cooked a five-course dinner for 60 guests at one of the city’s hottest restaurants, and the evening has been a triumph.
For nine years, Brittany-born Delourme has been head chef at Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurant in Padstow, Cornwall. Wishing to broaden his culinary horizons, Delourme persuaded Stein to let him take a two-week sabbatical and join a Culinary Tour of Cambodia, organised by the Wild Frontiers, a tour company that specialises in edgy, off-the-beaten-track destinations and themes.
The plan was to start in Siem Reap, the nearest town to the temples of Angkor Wat. It was here, at the elegant but funky FCC hotel, a fine colonial-style establishment whose cool contemporary-ethnic rooms are the perfect retreat, and whose bar is lively but not raucous, that I first met Delourme.
Our party of nine included Andrew Ridgeley, formerly George Michael's partner in the Eighties group Wham! and his ebullient girlfriend Keren Woodward, of Bananarama.
An unashamed gourmet, Ridgeley is both venerable and serious, a surfer in his adopted Cornwall who has become a prominent local environmentalist in the cause of water quality. Keren, still singing, still laughing, is the girl whom time left alone ��" gorgeous, voluptuous and enormous fun.
Our happy band was completed by Peter of Sullivan, the tour leader from Wild Frontiers. A former musician, On Sullivan first went out to Cambodia in the early Nineties to clear landmines. He has been going back ever since, as a journalist, tour guide and researcher for Wild Frontiers, and has an encyclopedic knowledge of Khmer culture and politics.
The temple visits done, our time in Siem Reap was spent trawling the vast fruit, vegetable and fish markets for local produce with our Cambodian guide and translator Vudthy (pronounced "Watti").
The fertile Cambodian land produces mountains of fresh food, and more than 300 species of freshwater fish are hauled daily from the Tonle Sap lake and river.
About the Author
http://www.orientaldiscovery.com/
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