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  >  Trip 2013 (Page 13)

A Laos cooking class. Given my unfamiliarity with the cuisine, everything was remarkably easy to prepare, which I’d guess is down to the excellent instruction and inherent simplicity of the dishes. First up was a trip to the market, which was the usual South East Asian chaos, colour, and piles of meat kept in 25 degree heat. All the really weird bits of meat too - apparently, Laotians are big on their offal and blood. Very much a waste-not, want-not culinary society. Indeed, the heart is the most expensive cut of meat here, because (rather logically) it’s small and there’s only

Laotian food can be a touch gribbly (see grubs et al below), but in general is very tasty, simple stuff - a super-flavourful herb and spice paste, sticky rice, maybe some simple grilled meat. Lots of fresh herbs and lettuce for making wraps. Dip a ball of rice into the paste, and away you go. There are some rather surprising flavours for a South East Asian cuisine: bitterness is a looked-for taste, dill is a prominent herb. We also went out for some Swiss-Lao fusion food — lemongrass cream ravioli, and rolled stuffed water buffalo steaks.

The centre of Luang Prabang is mostly grand colonial architecture, pristine temples, and strings of guest houses. However, a two-minute ferry across the Mekong, and the tourist-focused glitz of the Old Town fades away. Quite literally, actually…you can only just glimpse the rooftops through the haze.