Cracker Sticks
We thought that it would be a novel idea to serve our Crackers a little longer than normal as bar snacks.
They are made in exactly the same way as our normal Crackers, they are just cut in to long strips. The hot oil made them curl whilst being cooked, but with some careful prodding with a long pair of chopsticks, it was possible to get some unique shapes.
The idea of serving them like this came about after seeing the branches of trees that had shed their leaves. We had tried some that were cut thinner, but they were too fragile and would snap too easily.
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A few days ago it was Sous Chef Khamsene´s birthday. A friend of ours kindly gave us some Venison for the occasion.
None of the Laocooks had ever had Venison before (there isnt that much Deer in Laos, and what there is of it is normally only eaten in the forest areas).
The Venison Tenderloin was used for two dishes. One was a classic Larb, and the other was simply grilled and eaten with a sauce made from Chillies, Fish Sauce, Garlic and Lime Juice.
Hence it was a special meal for a special occasion.
On the whole, the Larb was nice, but nothing memorable. The grilled Venison with the dip was more satisfying. The former robbed the meat of its delicate flavour, far too many herbs and other flavours to identify.
The latter had more depth and natural flavour, and it was cooked very rare, just the way we like it. :)
Everything was washed down with some Homemade Wine.
Four or five bottles of wine, a song from Saki on the guitar and good food made a very good evening… :)