Traditional Recipes of Laos
Translated by Phouangphet Vannithone and Boon Song Klausner Edited by Alan and Jennifer Davidson Illustrated by Soun Vannithone
185pp; 158x230mm; paperback
ISBN 0 907325 60 2 £9.99
but
it continues to be appreciated by travellers to Vientiane as well as those
who stray not from their armchair or Western chopping-board. Phia Sing
was the Master of Ceremonies and Chef at the royal palace of Luang Prabang.
He died in 1967. Phia Sing's notebooks containing these recipes were loaned
to Alan Davidson, British ambassador in Vientiane in the early l970s, by
the Crown Prince of Laos. Alan Davidson arranged for their translation
and added much useful material explaining Lao foods and cookery. The text
is ornamented by drawings, mainly by the Lao artist Soun Vannithone. e
are 124 recipes. Some of them also figure in Fish
and Fish Dishes of Laos, but their range encompasses every aspect of
cooking, not merely the fishy bit.