Cambodian Cooking

I dedicate the following blog to Dana and Annie - my cooking role models in New York... and to Laura who may not cook as much, but would have ensured that nothing edible was left on the table at the end of the cooking class.

I am having a great last day in Cambodia! I spent all morning and early afternoon at a cooking class! There is a French man here, Jean Luc, who owns several restaurants in Siem Reap and also runs a culinary school for local Cambodians - teaching them Cambodian and French fusion cooking. The school also conveniently offer half day classes for tourists. In class today, it was me, a French couple, and their two children (aged 10 and 12). Our Cambodian instructors only spoke English (and Khmer), but luckily for all of us, cooking is a pretty universal language - and the French adults spoke some English.

Our group picked out six different dishes to cook and we went to the local market to buy some of the ingredients (the restaurant had most of them but I got to pick my fish etc.) I made a mango salad for an appetizer and Amok for an entree (the local favorite fish dish I wrote about earlier). It was SO delicious. Very easy to make, although securing the necessary spices in a Western supermarket will probably be a little trickier. I also helped the kids make shrimp and vege spring roles that we hand rolled and then fried. Their parents made a chicken ginger dish and a seafood curry. Around 1:00 the cooking was finished and we sat down to feast - it was a wonderful experience! I really feel like I could spend another few weeks eating my way through this country. It is also nice not to have to feel too guilty stuffing myself every meal since I'll need all the fuel I can get for the 7-day climb :)

I am spending my last few hours here lounging by the pool and packing before heading out in about an hour. I fly to Bangkok (with a 4 hour layover) then a red-eye to Ethiopia (with a 5 hour layover) then finally to Kilimanjaro airport. I arrive tomorrow afternoon around 3:00pm Tanzanian time and will meet up with Sam and Jared at the hotel. If I don't write before starting the climb - check back next Monday for the blog on Kili - and to see if we made it to the summit! Oh - and pray that Ethiopian airlines isn't as sketchy as I'm fearing it will be...