laocook

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Perhaps the most important festival in the Lao calender. Held in November to coincide with the full moon. There is a huge concentration of visitors during this 4 day long event. You really have to be there to enjoy the experience as words only fail to transmit the atmosphere.

In our LCTV Presentation, we hunt for “street vendor” BBQ Crispy Pork, before heading off to the That Luang later in the evening.

We don’t really like to serve bread in the Asia restaurant, it doesn’t seem to fit with our food, especially as all our main dishes are served with a side order of steamed rice.

However, when we make our “Aharn Menu”, which includes, what we like to call “Neo Laotian Cuisine”, others call it “Fusion Cuisine”, and some of my staff have jokingly called it “Pée Bha Cuisine”, we have to make some exceptions.

I had been thinking a lot about what should accompany our Duck, Liver and Mango dish (which has gone through another change since its original form).

The Original. The basic ingredients used where raw Duck Breast, Foie Gras and ripe Mango.

The Sequel, our second version. Here we decided to roll the Duck Breast around the Foie Gras and pan fry the Mango with Brown sugar and Sea Salt.

The Latest Offering sees us wrapping the Foie Gras with ripe Mango then rolling it in the Duck Breast, this time we serve it with a heavily reduced Teriyaki style sauce with homemade Pear Jam.

During my many visits to restaurants in France and other countries, I had always enjoyed Foie Gras with Brioche, a heavy style bread made from loads of butter and eggs.

We have a good supply of Pandan Juice made from fresh leaves in our freezer, so it seemed natural to try to make our own version of Brioche, using the vibrant green juice and aroma of Pandan.

Our first attempt ended up with an overly green bread, something that would have made the Incredible Hulk envious. :)

It looked too artificial, like we had used a green dye or food colouring in the recipe. Luckily no photos exist of that attempt. ;)

After a few more trials, we ended up with a good recipe, not too green, that still retained the unique aroma of the Pandan Leaves. Hence our Pandan Brioche was born.

When lightly grilled the bread gives off an inviting Buttery Pandan scent. The bread and the Duck, Liver and Mango dish still need a little more “fine tuning”, but at least we are on our way…

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Another dish which is evolving is our New Style Goong Che Nam Pla.

We have added marinated Tomatoes and Pine Kernels to the base of King Prawns and our “Crystal Shallots”. This dish as a far cry from the original dish that is found in many Lao or SE Asian restaurants, however it remains one of our most ordered Signature Dishes.

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One new dessert that we offered this week was our Apple, Apple, Apple, Apple and Apple. Yes I know!, naming new dishes is not one of my strong points!. ;)

Here we have Apple Jelly, Apple Compote, Fresh Apple, Apple Jam and Dried Apple. There is a chance that we might add an Apple Sorbet on top in the future, but we cant think of a name for the dessert.

We also serve Green Tea Macarones, which are lovely and have a silky inner texture and crispy crust.

Another dessert with a “name crisis” is our Pumpkin, Pumpkin and Pumpkin.

Pumpkin biscuit, Pumpkin Cream and sweet toasted Pumpkin Seeds.The addition of Pumpkin Ice Cream will just make the name sound silly.

However, not all is lost, we do have one desert with an easy-going name.

Its just called, Peach and Peach. Its made from Yellow and Red Peaches and is drunk from the shot tube.

Our Pastry Chef Akiyama and I will be busy in the next few weeks as we are working on some more exotic desserts, however, I may leave the naming of the dishes to someone else….

To get to Laos I had to fly through Bangkok. To get to Bangkok, I had to get to Madrid.

Thai Airways International fly direct from the Spanish Capital to her Thai counterpart. I wanted to spend a few nights in cold Madrid before heading off to the South East Asian sun.

Like most big cities, Madrid has a lot to offer. It is extremely busy, with everyone seeming to rush to some place or another. The centre is more or less compact, so most places of interest are reachable by Metro or Taxi.

If you are a “Shopaholic”, Madrid is your town. Seeing as we were there during a national holiday, it seemed that everyone and their neighbour was out shopping and eating. Tapas in the town are famous, and all the bars are full from opening time till their late closing time.

(asking the doorman to recommend a place to eat).

I love markets and will visit them wherever I go. I love to look at the available food. Whilst Rosalia shops for clothes, I can normally be found window shopping for food. ;)

“Cochinillo” or Piglet on sale with Blood Sausage… hmmmm… I can think of hot winter recipes with roasted vegetables… lovely.. :)

Chorizo´s are great cooked in stews or simply grilled. A kind of Spanish “Sai Koch”

Every good Tapas bar worth a visit has its selection of Jamón (pronounced “Hammon”), cured Spanish Ham. The best ham is the “Jamón Ibérico de Bellota” aka “Pata Negra” (Black Hoofed), acorn fed pork from Andalucia. Expensive, but worth it.

When cut correctly, these thin slivers have a nutty aroma and melt-in-the-mouth buttery texture.

Back in the Laocook kitchen we are currently working on “something secret” that will (hopefully) marry the rustic taste of Jamón with something more familiar with Lao foodies (or at least become well acquainted with, like a Fiancé perhaps). ;)

(a man with a mission to find more food!)