Mrs. Long Sorey and her daughter Kanika Linden.By Khmerization
Source: RFI
Khmer cuisine has been recently recognised internationally on the world stage, thanks to a mother-daughter team effort who co-authored a cookbook that has recently won an international cookbook award, reports Radio France Internationale.
The book "Au pays de la pomme cythère" (In the land of Ambarella), which was co-authored by Mrs. Long Sorey and her daughter, Ms. Kanika Linden, has won the 2009 “Gourmand World Cookbook Awards” from an international cooking institution called "Gourmand Awards".
In an interview with RFI, Mrs. Long Sorey said she jumped in joy when news came in the middle of the night that her book won the award. "Khmer win! Khmer is number one!", she exclaimed upon hearing of the news.
Mrs. Long Sorey's "Au pays de la pomme cythère" was selected as the winning entry among 6000 cookbooks from 136 countries. She said her book won because of its clear explanation and instructions plus the beautiful pictures of the food and raw material that feature in it. She added that the book features the real beauty of the Cambodian countryside scenery where the photos of the fish were taken at the locations from the rivers in Siem Reap and the photos of the palm trees were taken in rice fields in Kampong Speu.
Mrs. Long Sorey said the book took 10 years to compile. She said she compile the menu and recipes, while her daughter was a photographer and took charge of selecting photos and the graphic design was done by Jérome Jaymond (Cambodia).
Mrs. Long said Khmer food are aromatic and are healthy because they are rich in medicinal herbs. She said Khmer cuisines use a lot of turmeric which has been proven by research to be rich in chemical compound that help to reduce the risk of cancer.
She regrets that many Khmers are feeling embarrassed about Khmer food such as prahok. She said prahok is not as smelly as it was made out to be, it is up to how people cook it or how much they put it in the cooking. She also regrets that Cambodians prefer to cook Western food for Westerners who visit Cambodia because they thought Westerners don't like Cambodian food. She said this is a misconception because many Westerners who visit Cambodia want to explore real Cambodian culture and authentic Khmer cuisines.
She added the reason she wrote the cookbook was because she want to preserve authentic Khmer cuisines and also want to teach young Khmer generation to cook real Khmer food. She said she live in France and her daughter live in England. She described how sorry she felt for her daughter who has to pick up the phone to call her on how to cook Khmer food whenever she want to eat Khmer food.
At this stage, the book is in French. It is in the process of being translated into English.Source: RFI
Khmer cuisine has been recently recognised internationally on the world stage, thanks to a mother-daughter team effort who co-authored a cookbook that has recently won an international cookbook award, reports Radio France Internationale.
The book "Au pays de la pomme cythère" (In the land of Ambarella), which was co-authored by Mrs. Long Sorey and her daughter, Ms. Kanika Linden, has won the 2009 “Gourmand World Cookbook Awards” from an international cooking institution called "Gourmand Awards".
In an interview with RFI, Mrs. Long Sorey said she jumped in joy when news came in the middle of the night that her book won the award. "Khmer win! Khmer is number one!", she exclaimed upon hearing of the news.
Mrs. Long Sorey's "Au pays de la pomme cythère" was selected as the winning entry among 6000 cookbooks from 136 countries. She said her book won because of its clear explanation and instructions plus the beautiful pictures of the food and raw material that feature in it. She added that the book features the real beauty of the Cambodian countryside scenery where the photos of the fish were taken at the locations from the rivers in Siem Reap and the photos of the palm trees were taken in rice fields in Kampong Speu.
Mrs. Long Sorey said the book took 10 years to compile. She said she compile the menu and recipes, while her daughter was a photographer and took charge of selecting photos and the graphic design was done by Jérome Jaymond (Cambodia).
Mrs. Long said Khmer food are aromatic and are healthy because they are rich in medicinal herbs. She said Khmer cuisines use a lot of turmeric which has been proven by research to be rich in chemical compound that help to reduce the risk of cancer.
She regrets that many Khmers are feeling embarrassed about Khmer food such as prahok. She said prahok is not as smelly as it was made out to be, it is up to how people cook it or how much they put it in the cooking. She also regrets that Cambodians prefer to cook Western food for Westerners who visit Cambodia because they thought Westerners don't like Cambodian food. She said this is a misconception because many Westerners who visit Cambodia want to explore real Cambodian culture and authentic Khmer cuisines.
She added the reason she wrote the cookbook was because she want to preserve authentic Khmer cuisines and also want to teach young Khmer generation to cook real Khmer food. She said she live in France and her daughter live in England. She described how sorry she felt for her daughter who has to pick up the phone to call her on how to cook Khmer food whenever she want to eat Khmer food.
To those interested in the cookbook:
Book details
Title: Au Pays de la Pomme Cythère (In the land of Ambarella)
Authors: Sorey Long, Kanika Linden
Photos: Kanika Linden, Jérome Jaymond
Publisher: White Tara Ltd
Published: April 2009 & January 2010
No. pages: 218
Format: 30 cm (L) x 19,5 cm (H), hardcover
Contents: 139 recipes, 158 photos
Price: 35 € + post&package
ISBN: 978 0956 208 705
Contact: Kanika Linden: +44 (0) 7961 129 705; whitetaraltd@gmail.com
To order: Tel: 06.12.97.95.81; whitetaraltd@gmail.com
Information on the Gourmand Awards
Edouard Cointreau, President
Gourmand Awards
www.cookbookfair.com
icr@virtualsw.es
3 comments:
Let your food be your medicine!
Cambodia has a lot of spices that
can heal the body and boost the
immune system. Who need drugs?
We need more people who knows how
to use herbs for healing. The remedy
is growing in your garden not in the
lab of the pharmaceutical headquarters.
Should require of a monk to know the
value of how to use herb to help the
sick and not just sprinkle holy water on them.
I congratulate the mother-daughter team for bringing Khmer cuisine to international stage. I'd like to buy the book if it is in English. I think there food are great.
Dear all,
As we are doing this project in our free time, please be patient with the English version and website (www.nomkom.com).
The English version will be available in the US in 2011.
It will feature many recipes (+140) and many full-page pictures and step-by step photos.
The UK october issue of the Reader's Digest feature an article by Elaine Moore on Cambodian food and history, "The taste of Cambodia". For those interested, please send an email to whitetaraltd@gmail.com and I will forward the article to you.
Kanika Linden
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