Traditional Recipes of Laos
SynopsisPlot
The notebooks are a precious resource for those wishing to cook Lao food: the 124 recipes were compiled to give a balanced view of the cuisine (albeit from quite a high-ranking perspective). In the thirty years since its first appearance, materials and ingredients have become easier to source, and the cooking techniques and styles more familiar to us. The dishes, therefore, are very cookable. There is a long prefatory section, written by the late Alan Davidson and his daughter Jennifer, which explains much about Lao cookery, ingredients and equipment. The whole book is plentifully illustrated with drawings done from life by Soun Vannithone and other Lao artists. The introduction is 50 pages long and covers the life of Phia Sing; Lao eating habits and attitudes to food; Lao culinary terms and culinary equipment; and Lao ingredients.
Story
About this book
Traditional Recipes of Laos is a cookbook compiled from the notebooks of Phia Sing, a figure of high standing in Lao society. The collection contains 124 recipes chosen to represent a broad view of Lao cuisine, though shaped by the perspective of its well-positioned author. The book first appeared over thirty years ago, and this edition restores the original Lao-language text alongside the English, which remains unchanged from earlier printings.
A substantial introduction, running to around fifty pages, was written by Alan Davidson and his daughter Jennifer. It covers Phia Sing's life, Lao eating customs and attitudes toward food, culinary vocabulary, kitchen equipment, and the ingredients used in Lao cooking. Throughout the book, illustrations drawn from life by Soun Vannithone and other Lao artists accompany the text, offering visual detail about the food and its preparation.
Since the book first appeared, many of the ingredients and techniques it describes have become more widely available and better understood outside Laos. The recipes are presented as practical and cookable rather than archival. Alan Davidson, who contributed the prefatory material, was a widely respected food writer known for his work on Southeast Asian and fish cookery.
