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CUISINE
Fresh from Cambodia
We travel with a top Cambodian chef as he scours the countryside for ingredients and inspiration
For Cambodia’s premier chef, dining is not something squeezed in between activities; it’s the main event. Since opening restaurants Topaz in 1997 and Malis in 2005, Luu Meng has helped develop Cambodian cuisine from mundane street food into high-end gastronomy. His self-styled Living Cambodian Cuisine is not based on fusion, but enhancement of flavour. “It is all about fresh spices,” says Meng, who trained at what is now called the Hotel Cambodiana. “This is what separates Khmer food from Thai or Vietnamese cuisine.”
In his pursuit of the freshest ingredients, Meng bypasses supermarkets and heads to a family-run vegetable farm on the outskirts of the capital. “I like to come straight to the source myself,” says the Chinese-Cambodian as he dives into rows of aubergine, pumpkin, lemongrass and lettuce. “We pick only the best.”
A stickler for quality, Meng orders a delivery of fresh vegetables and spices to his kitchens across the city every two days and visits the farm every couple of weeks. “I love coming out to the countryside; this is where Khmer cuisine was born after all,” says the 36-year-old as he prepares sand’ny, a lemongrass fish salad.
Meng’s flair for flavour has led him to use unripe ingredients in his cooking. “For foreigners, it is inconceivable to eat unripe vegetables like aubergine, for Khmers it is instrumental to our cuisine,” he beams, while making samlor koko, a traditional pork and pumpkin stew. For dessert he allows us to sample a creation in the making, a pumpkin crème caramel. In keeping with Meng’s gourmet trademark, the look is French, the taste Khmer.
This back-to-nature approach allows Meng to incorporate seasonal differences into his menu; beef is best in September and bitter herbs in December, he assures me. As the gourmet escapade to the countryside comes to a close, freshly picked herbs and vegetables join us in the van. “Now back to the kitchen,” the aff able chef laughs, our culinary odyssey suddenly over. – Charlie Lancaster Topaz: 182 Sothearos, tel +855 (0)23 221622, www.. topaz-restaurant.com; Malis: 136 Norodom Blvd [near Independence Monument], tel +855 (0)23 221022, www.malis-restaurant.com
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