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Spoons Out! It’s Mont d’Or Season…

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Mont d’Or is revered in France almost like no other cheese is, and there’s a good reason why that is! While many consider the Christmas Celebration season an excellent reason to be jolly, there’s certainly no need to feel glum now that it’s over for another year. That’s because there’s another season going on which, we think, is guaranteed to have the cheese-lovers of this world singing joyously as they grab their spoons for a scoop of the gloriously luscious cheese, Mont d’Or. What is Mont d’Or? Well, for starters it’s revered in France almost like no other cheese is, and there’s a good reason why that is. More technically, it’s a lightly pressed soft cows’ milk cheese with a washed rind. It is produced between September and March each year using milk from cows on their cold-weather diet of hay and no longer producing enough milk to make the traditional large-scale cheeses such as Gruyère, Comte and Beaufort. However, this fall and winter milk, while less voluminous is also higher in protein and fat that produce richly flavoured cheeses which ripen quickly into a deliciously gooey, runny cheese with a heavy rind. However, while the flavour might be deep, it tends to be less complex than that produced from the milk of summer-grass eating cows. And because the French are French, this would not do. So an ingenious solution was found. The practice of wrapping maturing cheeses in strips of bark was first recorded in the thirteenth century, though may well have preceded that time. Wrapping the cheeses in bark, specifically spruce bark in the case of Mont d’Or, encourages the development of different classes of flavour-forging bacteria that yield rich, creamy cheeses with complex, multi-layered flavours. It is no surprise that Mont d’Or was a firm favourite of King Henry XV. This production method is labour-intensive, which may explain why only eleven producers create this cheese today. And the flavour. Well, it’s not just the scarcity of seasonality and production that drives the passions this cheese invokes. In the words of American food writer, David Liebowitz, “… it’s like a brain wreck of everything going on – fat, funk, fresh cream, wood, garlic, rank and a peculiar buttery sharpness scrambling all your senses together in each single mouthful. And if that description doesn’t scare you away, then you’ll be rewarded with a life-altering eating experience”. Who could say no to that?! The only questions now should be: what size spoon should I use, to which the answer is small because you likely won’t be able to stop once you start, and what wine should I drink with this miracle? If you can get your hands on a vin jaune, which is produced in the Jura, then all the better. In the absence of that, you’ll need a dry white wine that can stand up for itself, like Chardonnay, Gewürtztraminer, or Sancerre. Oh, and Champagne! If you fancy something else though, then perhaps a porter-style beer might be your answer. Mont d’Or can be enjoyed as it is, or elevated to food-of-the-gods levels by wrapping the entire container securely in foil (particularly if you’re the one who usually has to clean the oven), while leaving the top open. Then poke a few holes in the golden rind with a knife, sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper, pour a glass of white wine over it, and bake it about 190ºC (375ºF) for about 20 to 30 minutes. Hiding all the spoons in the house except your own is liable to lead to wars.

Food is a Passport to Global Recognition

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“Gastronomy is a powerful tool for diplomacy to improve relations between countries through cultural exchanges such as exhibitions and meetings between foreign diplomats.” – H.E. PRAK Sokhonn Last month, the National Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations (NIDIR) held an event highlighting the importance with a special training session on the preparation of Num Banh Chok Khmer (Cambodian rice noodle soup) before an assembled group of spouses of ambassadors posted to Cambodia and those of Cambodian diplomats posted abroad. The event was led by Thalias Hospitality founder, Chef Luu Meng who, together with a team from the Cambodian Academy of Culinary Arts, prepared the flavourful noodle soup while explaining its origins and recipe before everyone was able to enjoy a delicious tasting of this classic Cambodian dish. The training was part of NIDIR’s 2021-2023 economic diplomacy strategy to promote Cambodia’s tourism and culture, including culinary arts, on the international stage. According to H.E. PRAK Sokhonn, “gastronomy is a powerful tool for diplomacy to improve relations between countries through cultural exchanges such as exhibitions and meetings between foreign diplomats.” H.E. Dr. NHIM Khemara, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed his appreciation for the event and hoped that diplomats and chefs at missions abroad would endeavour to apply what they had learned in order to further promote Cambodian cuisine as a means of cultural diplomacy. This form of diplomacy, called ‘gastrodiplomacy’ since The Economist magazine coined the phrase in 2002, has grown in importance over the last decades as countries all over the world seek to foster relations between nations, but also to raise awareness and interest among populations of a particular cuisine and the appeals of the country behind it. Many countries have followed this strategy, most notably Thailand, whose efforts The Economist was describing in its 2002 article. The Thai initiative aimed to expand the number of Thai restaurants in the world from 5,500 to 8,000. Their multifaceted approach included making it easier for restauranteurs abroad to import food from Thailand, including the use of soft loans, and agreements with foreign countries that made it easier for Thai chefs to secure work visas. Many other countries have followed suit since then including South Korea, which focused on kimchi as part of its initiatives, Taiwan and Peru, the last of which succeeded in creating a global boom for Peruvian food. As distinct from the grand occasions one might normally associate with gastronomic diplomacy, one of the endearing features of gastrodiplomacy is that anyone can play a role given the right audience. No need to starch your suits and dresses, just to keep the cooking fires burning.

Onwards and Upwards to the Year Ahead

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Developing Asia Economies Set to Grow 5.2% this Year Amid Global Uncertainty The beginning of this year already feels like it happened a decade ago. Cambodia had just reopened its doors to tourism and the world was gradually moving over to a policy of “living with Covid”. No one really knew what the future held, but there was tentative optimism. What choice did we have after all? But Cambodia’s experience over 2022 has at least borne some of that optimism out. And it looks as though we have ground for even further optimism going into 2023. This December, the World Bank revised Cambodia’s economic growth levels for the year upwards to 4.8%. According to their report, Cambodia’s garment industry, travel goods and footwear exports showed resilience, while the services sector, especially travel and tourism, has also done well. As a result, business and consumer confidence have risen and both domestic and foreign investment have increased. While this is a fraction of Cambodia’s historic highs, it still puts the country ahead of much of the rest of the world. Global growth is projected to reach 3.2% for this year, “the weakest growth profile since 2001” not including the financial crash of 2008 and the early, acute phase of the Covid pandemic. So while larger countries are slowing down, Cambodia is maintaining its traditional trend of gearing up despite strong negative external factors such as the ongoing conflict in Europe, and the US’s and China’s faltering economies. That upward trend is set to continue for 2023, where Cambodia is predicted to hit growth levels of 5.3%. That trend may receive a further boost from a $274-million credit earmarked for Cambodia by the World Bank in order to “promote a resilient recovery” from recent economic turbulence. The support is expressly intended to support economic reforms that “will boost growth and strengthen Cambodia’s resilience”, including those that will promote competition, streamline administration and expand access to finance. In Cambodia’s favour, tourism is showing strong signs of recovery, with over 1¼ million arrivals in the first nine months of this year, almost seven times more than the dismal equivalent period in 2021. This third-quarter figure already outpaces predictions made in May for the entire year by 25%. A key driver for tourism’s recovery will be the relaunch and introduction of key air routes with countries like Japan and India, among others. This undertaking received a boost last month with the announcement by AirAsia of a new joint-venture agreement for the creation of a new low-cost airline in the country.

We’ve got a Fabulous Festival of Flavours for You this Festive Season

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“Oh, come all ye hungry, joyful and triumphant” and join us at Topaz or Khéma for a special Christmas celebration that will be a giant bouquet of flavours, family and friends. Our teams have wrapped up some iconic menus for you, but you’ll need to be quick… If anyone else feels like last Christmas and New Year’s Eve were either last century or last week, you are not alone! Mercifully, our teams have not been forced to ponder what they’re going to prepare for you for the last two decades, but they have taken a little longer than a week or two to compose some stellar menus to elevate your celebrations this year. And the kitchen team at Topaz under the guidance of Chef Sopheak Pov has really outdone itself this year. We are incredibly proud to present two menus that are the essence of some serious celebratory business. You’ll find plenty of decadently luxurious ingredients with divine flavours and combinations all wrapped up in two eight-course menus. To give you a brief glimpse of what’s lined up for a beautifully Bright Christmas at Topaz, you’ll be unfolding dishes including Foie Gras Terrine with Black Winter Truffle, magically cut through with a Raspberry Coulis, and later on, Poached Atlantic Lobster with Champagne Sauce. And these are just some of the supporting act before the main event, which will be a magnificent Turkey Ballotine stuffed with Foie Gras and Morel Mushrooms with Chestnut Purée and Black Trumpet Mushrooms. And for a fire-cracker of a New Year, the menu starts off with a Hokkaido Scallop Tartare with Caviar, and just goes up, up and up from there. Like we said, the team at Topaz have outdone themselves. But, not to be outdone, the Khéma crew are batting for you with a pair of fantastic five-course menus that are guaranteed to add an extra sparkle to your day. Here, your Christmas celebrations kick off with a very Cambodian twist, and a delicious salad of Mekong Lobster with Foie Gras and Green Beans followed by a Kampot Crab Cannelloni with Wild Mushrooms. For the centre-piece of the meal, you’ll enjoy a beautiful Turkey Ballotine with a Chestnut and Foie Gras Stuffing, accompanied by Root Vegetables and Potato Dauphinoise. And New Year’s Eve will be no less spectacular, for a menu packed with delicious surprises, including a Creamy White Bean and Scallop Soup, a Seafood Gratin, Foie Gras, and crowned by a Pan-seared Duck Breast à l’Orange served with Spring Vegetables. To find out more, keep an eye on our Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/TopazRestaurant and https://www.facebook.com/KhemaPasteur, and to make your booking, follow this link: https://thalias.com.kh/reserve/ But hurry up, places will fill fast!

How Did Arnaud Darc get to where he is today?

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Arnaud Darc (left), Thalias CEO, at the signature of partnership with Meridian International Holding, 2021.

An entrepreneur, a leader, a cultivator of talent, and a lighthouse for industry: how did Thalias CEO Arnaud Darc get to where he is today? We took a time-out with him to dig into some of the things that have influenced him, and how he keeps going underneath his many hats… We sat down with Thalias CEO Arnaud Darc to ask him some questions about leadership, switching off and why the mistakes we make can become the bedrock of future success. How would you define your leadership style? I see my main role as being to identify and nurture the innate talents that people have so that they can evolve and grow into their greatest potential for the good of themselves and at the same time for the good of the company. That idea is core to how Thalias has grown the way that it has, and continues to grow even in the face of recent crises. And it is a pleasure for me to see team members becoming the best versions of who they are, and achieving things that go far beyond what they themselves might ever have imagined. What one piece of advice would you give your younger self? Invest in yourself, and not just professionally, but also into your health and emotional wellbeing. It’s the surest way of having a long-lasting and positive impact on the people you live and work with, so it pays a double return. Do you have any hobbies that help you in your work? In the last few years I discovered running. I started in order to keep fit, and it does do that, but I find that it also helps me to disconnect from the surface stresses of running a large business and supporting the industry. Funnily enough, while I’m running my mind is not consciously focused on problems and decisions that I need to face, it’s focused on the road ahead. But while doing that, I tend to come up with solutions and answers that I might not have otherwise. What do you do if you want to completely switch off? Funnily enough, when I want to completely switch off, I sleep. I think it’s one of the most underrated human activities, which is a shame because it’s also one of the most necessary and beneficial. And by sleeping, I mean quality sleep, lots of it, and I work towards achieving that all day. It starts with getting up early in the morning, and getting a sunshine and vitamin-D boost while running or walking my dog, and I continue throughout the day with things like avoiding caffeine late in the day. I couldn’t do what I do without this. How important is it for executives and leaders to switch off from time to time? Essential. If you don’t, you risk burning out. We’re not machines and, at the end of the day, nothing is more important than your health, physical and mental. Without that, nothing can get done. What book has helped you the most to do your job? I think that Danny Meyers’ book Setting the Table is essential reading for anyone in this business, though much of what he says can be applied in any industry because wisdom is wisdom. It doesn’t need a specific context. What book(s) do you consider to be essential reading for someone who wants to progress in hospitality leadership? Setting the Table without a shadow of a doubt, but a podcast I never miss out on is the Huberman Lab podcast (https://hubermanlab.com). They discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life and work, and it has had a tremendous impact on me over the last two years. I love that we can now listen and learn as we go about our day using audio books and podcasts, and it has enriched my life immeasurably, both at and outside of work. What are your thoughts on mentors and whether people on the way up the ladder should seek one out? Again, essential for anyone who wants to really grow not just in an industry, but in themselves. A mentor has been around the block a few times, they can recognise where the pitfalls are, and help to guide you through them or around them. While good business is built on relationships, networks and communication, it can also feel very isolating especially when you’re faced with problems that you might not have encountered before. Choosing a good mentor with whom you can be frank and honest, who will not make decisions for you but guide you towards making the right decisions yourself, can make an enormous difference to your success or failure. Choose wisely, ask politely, respond graciously to their advice, and never fail to acknowledge their role. What is the most valuable trait that you look for in your team leaders? A willingness to try, and to try to do their best. Sometimes it’s not about the things you already know how to do, but about the things you’re willing to do that you might not have done before that really show whether you’ve got what it takes to get to the next level. It takes courage, confidence and belief in the future, and these qualities are what make a leader, not how good one is at presentations etc. And we learn more from those times when we put ourselves on the line. We’re more alert, more present because we don’t always know what to expect. These are the things we learn and grow the most from. What was the most important lesson you learned from a mistake you’ve made in the past and how did you turn your thinking about the mistake around? Mistakes are an unavoidable part of life, and if you’re not making mistakes from time to time, then you’re probably not actually living. But while they can feel hard in the moment, they’re also the strongest steps on your climb of the hill towards success. If you want to … Read more

One Ingredient to Bind Them: Foie Gras

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Le fois gras poêlé - Topaz.

There are few things more quintessentially French than a sublime sliver of silky smooth foie gras perched atop a slice of crisp baguette. This luxurious “fat liver” is one of our key ingredients at Topaz, and for very good reason… . At Topaz, we’ll soon be launching an exciting new menu where you’ll find some completely new dishes, some lively twists on old favourites, and some of your most-loved dishes just as you’ve always enjoyed them. As always, the menu is unmistakably French, as are the ingredients, one of which holds pride of place in all our hearts: Foie Gras. As smooth as pure satin, Foie Gras combines rich umami tones with a sweetish minerally flavour. Yet for all the richness and depth, its smooth, buttery texture gives it a melting, delicate quality. Foie Gras (“fat liver”) has long been a staple of the Gascon larder. Gascony, in the Southwestern corner of France, that borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Pyrenees mountains to the south, is one of the engine rooms of French cuisine, renowned not just for the quality and variety of the ingredients produced there, but also for the the methods of preparing, preserving and cooking them. It’s also breathtakingly beautiful in case you should be thinking of passing by. It is commonly, and most likely incorrectly, thought that the method of feeding ducks or geese in order to produce Foie Gras originated in Egypt. However, it is very likely true that the practice was brought to France by the Jews for whom it afforded a source of fat as dietary rules, kashrut, prohibited the consumption of lard, and often butter. In France, Foie Gras was first produced in Strasbourg but eventually made its way to Gascony, which has made an art, and today an industry, out of its production. At Topaz, we’ve integrated Foie Gras into a range of our dishes in order to add richness, depth of flavour, and a deliciously luxurious flourish. You’ll find it wrapped up in puff pastry with mushroom duxelles, truffles and fillet of beef for an iconic Beef Wellington—a feast for kings—or prepared with its very own tart and a deliciously tangy Périgueux sauce as a glorious opening starter for your meal, or once more wrapped up in a puff-pastry crust (the ultimate comfort food) together with black winter truffles, another Gascon speciality, and meltingly delicate veal sweetbreads. Alternatively, you could let the Foie Gras really take centre stage with two time-honoured ways of enjoying it. There is the simplest, with everything taken down to their its elements, Foie Gras à la Truffe en Terrine, a generous slice of umami-packed silk to be enjoyed with toasts, and perhaps shared with those you love most (if they’ve been good). Or you could heat things up a little with a Pan-seared Foie Gras with Caramelised Apples, a classic of French cuisine that marries the sublime richness of Foie Gras with the sweet-tart sauce. There’s a very good reason the French love this so much: it’s a sensational dish. And also a good one to remember the next time a French person tells you they can’t eat sweet & sour pork because they’re not used to mixing sweet and savoury in French cooking. Whatever you do, don’t miss out on trying it.

Presto a Siena! Real Italian Food…

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Giuseppe Napoletano, new chef at Siena in Flatiron, Phnom Penh

It’s ironic that one of the world’s best-loved foods is also one of its most not-so-much misunderstood, but rather under-understood. Italian cuisine has a great deal more to offer than pizza and pasta, and that’s what we’re looking forward to bringing you at Siena at Flatiron. We took a small dive into Italy’s incredibly rich and varied culinary history to give you a glimpse of what’s coming …. We’re really excited about the (coming soon!) opening of Siena at Flatiron, a brand-new Italian steakhouse rooted in real Italian ingredients and traditional Italian cooking from the north and south of the country, all served in a sophisticated contemporary setting with spectacular views across the whole of Phnom Penh city. The best of all worlds. We think it’ll be a terrific addition to Phnom Penh’s dynamic dining scene, and hope that you will too. Italian cuisine is one of the most loved in the world, and for plenty of very good reasons. At its heart, it combines sublime flavours with a simpler approach to preparation than you might traditionally see in French cuisine, and a laser-like focus on freshness, regionality and practicality. Italians know that the right ingredients are everything, and are just as serious about their food as their neighbours to the north and in fact cooking and food were considered so fundamental to life that the first European cookery book, by Apicius, was created in Rome in the 10th century, and the first printed cookery book, by Platina, came 500 years later. But while Italian food may be generally regarded as more “approachable” — less complicated, less fancy, less expensive — than French cuisine, that is often because the full complexities of Italian cooking have not travelled as far and wide. Italian food embraces a vast world beyond the pizza and pasta with which we are all so familiar, and it is a world full of rich, layered and delicious flavours. And that makes an awful lot of sense when you look at Italian history. If you ask an Italian about Italian cooking, he’ll ask you where from. And you’ll say, “well, Italy!”, and then he’ll say, “Yes, but where from?!” The nation state that we recognise as the trademark “boot” today only came into being in the second half of the 19th century following unification of an array of city states and republics, each of which had its distinct dialects, traditions and, of course, cuisines. So when you talk about “Italian food”, you’re really talking about food that could be Bolognese, Venetian, Roman, Milanese, Tuscan, Piedmontese, Sicilian, Neapolitan, and so on… On top of that, there is a long history of conquests, both outward, the Roman Empire springs to mind, and inward with invasions from the Greeks, Moors (called Saracens in Italy), Vikings, and more. Each of these left their own traces which we can still see today. For example the fabrication of the salty, sheep’s cheese Pecorino can be traced back to Greek influence. You’ll also find further influences from neighbours such as France, Austria and the Balkan countries in dishes such as spätzle Tirolesi, a Germanic spinach pasta with smoked speck ham and a cream sauce. Then there is Italy’s extraordinary geography: a long peninsula with the second-longest coastline in Europe, flanked by the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west, the Mediterranean to the south and the Adriatic to the east, and topped by the Alps in north which settle down to Italy’s only major plain. This is Italy’s dairy region, where hearty cooking tends to centre on meat, butter is widely used, and the staples are rice for risotto and cornmeal for polenta. Running down from that plain, the Apennine mountains stretch the entire length of the country, like a gigantic spine, dividing one coast from the other and riven with valleys whose peoples were isolated from one another, as were their cultures, customs and cuisines. This mountain range is also responsible for an astonishing variety of climate areas for such a small country, and also played a role in the variety of Italian foods. At the bottom is the sun drenched south, where olive oil, dried pastas, bright, fresh ingredients and plenty of seafood rule the days, and nights. There’s a reason why some of the seminal contemporary books on Italian cuisine, The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan and The Silver Spoon by Phaidon, run to 700 and 1500 pages apiece. At Siena, we hope to give you an insight into the startling breadth and diversity of traditional Italian cooking, done the Italian way. Looking forward to wishing you “Buon Appetito!”

Paul Dubrule School’s Post-Pandemic Pedal Back to Vitality

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A student at Ecole Paul Dubrule

With twenty years of building futures under its belt, the hospitality training school at Paul Dubrule is keeping its eye on the road ahead, for its students, and for Cambodia… This December, Paul Dubrule School will celebrate its 20th anniversary, so we took the opportunity to have a look back at the history of this emblematic establishment for professional training in Cambodia’s tourism and hospitality sector which has helped almost 4,000 graduates from all walks of life find their path in life. We took a lunchtime tour with director François Schnoebelen along laughter-filled corridors and among well-equipped classrooms. As we wander, delicious aromas are already wafting out from the kitchens where tomorrow’s chefs are hard at work preparing to feed this year’s intake of almost 200 students. The school’s exceptionality was baked in from its very inception. A co-founder of Accor, the name behind a suite of hotel brands from budget to luxury including Sofitel and Raffles, Paul Dubrule first visited Cambodia in 1998 and quickly spotted an opportunity in the Kingdom’s tourism potential and the lack of training in this sector. He decided to finance a hotel school aiming at the highest standards of teaching and, on the heels of an eight-month 15,000km cycle-ride from Fontainebleau to Siem Reap, he officially opened that school on October 24, 2002. Sixty-seven students graduated that first year, and immediately found jobs in the sector. Since then, the school has evolved and grown in step with Cambodia’s fast-changing context. The premises have expanded, as have the number of students and teachers, as well as the courses offered. “At the beginning, we were starting from scratch,” says François. “Basic skills were not there, and teaching them was a priority. Today, as levels have risen more generally, the aim is to offer solid professional training in the hospitality sector, which still needs more attention in the country. This training is intended to be as comprehensive as possible, addressing all aspects of the many professions that touch this vast field.” Most recently, thanks to the pandemic, the school was forced to adapt its teaching approach and set up online classes so that students would not fall behind. “Everyone was involved in setting up these distance learning courses, both students and teachers. More generally, the involvement of everyone at the school, whether staff or students, is paramount in the spirit of the institution,” says François. “A very large part in decision-making is given to the students, both in the courses and in daily life. To give a few examples: clubs have been created to promote sports and cultural activities. The same is true for environmental issues, such as growing our vegetable garden or making an inventory of the plants and trees on our property. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and we counted 70 plant species, all duly listed, described and mapped with great care. It was also the students who thought about different ways to save energy and then put them into practice.” Ecology, moreover, will be a prominent topic in the coming years, as the school aims to achieve Eco-Campus status. “When we applied for the certification, we realised that it had not yet been created for vocational schools. This turned into a remarkable opportunity to become a pilot school and set the future global standard. We are all very proud of this, even though it will take many months, if not years, of effort.” As a first step towards achieving the Eco-Campus label, an organic garden was created in partnership with Agrisud. François took up his position on a five-year contract in September last year, adding another chapter to a career that reads like a novel. Born into an Alsatian Catholic family, he originally intended to become a priest and spent two years at a seminary in Bavaria. However, he came to question his vocation and finally left to study philosophy in Paris. “I had no help from my parents,” he says, “I had to manage on my own. I was 19 years old, just out of the seminary, with little experience of life, and suddenly I found myself in the heart of the capital. It was quite confusing, but also exciting. I enrolled at the Sorbonne and the Institut Catholique d’Assas, which gave me radically different perspectives. Oddly enough, the most progressive professors were at the Catholic Institute, and the most conservative at the Sorbonne!” At the time, he lived in the then quite degraded but now fashionable Marais district in Paris. It was an eye-opening time for him, but also where he started out in hospitality in order to finance his studies. The experiences gave him a thirst for the business, and also for travel. With his studies completed, he opted to move into human resources for the interactions, connections and potential for knowledge that it offered. “When you’re curious, you get what you want”, he says. His work has since taken him to the four corners of the planet. In the course of those journeys, he met a Cambodian woman who became his wife and encouraged him to learn Khmer. From there, the idea of moving to Cambodia became an obvious next step. “I’m 50 years old and I’ve been involved in the non-profit sector for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve been a salaried employee and worked full time in this sector. It fills me with an immense satisfaction, which I feel every day when I go to the office. It’s a job that allows me to work in several fields, education, management, computer science, relational skills, human resources. All of this in the service of an NGO that is, and I sincerely believe it to be, the best hotel school in the kingdom.” After a slight drop in attendance due to the pandemic, the school is back on track, welcoming 185 students this year. The students receive the public in real conditions, thus refining their reception skills. All of them find a job after their studies. … Read more

Hitting the High Notes: Alsace’s Hugel Gentil

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Thanks to their bright, clean flavours Alsatian wines have long been a safe pick for anyone looking to pair a good white wine with Southeast Asian foods. In the Hugel Gentil available at Khéma you’ll find a wine that serves as a perfect introduction to Alsatian wines, thanks to its production method which brings together the “suave, spicy flavour of Gewürztraminer, the structure of Pinot Gris, the finesse of Riesling, the grapiness of Muscat and the refreshing character of Pinot Blanc and Sylvaner”. What does all this mean? The name Gentil dates back to the 1920s and is reserved for a method of producing blended AOC (“Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) Alsace wines that fulfil the established standards. The blend must consist of at least 50% Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris and/or Gewürztraminer, and the rest can be either Sylvaner, Chasselas or Pinot Blanc. Each variety used in the blend must individually qualify as an AOC Alsace wine, ensuring that the blend retains its integrity, which may be why it has been coming back into fashion lately. Alsatian wines tend to be dry to off-dry, and this one is no exception. Described by one industry reviewer, who awarded Gentil Hegel nine out of ten stars, this is “a supple, bright and juicy white wine”, with a medium body, fresh fruit and florals aromas, and a long, dry, mineral finish on that palate, making it a perfect match for seafood, chicken and pork dishes, sushi and vegetarian dishes. Another industry reviewer says “this is a joyful dry white that’s brimming with fruit aromas, from pears to lychee to flowers”. As a white then, this wine seems to almost have it all in fact. Gentle enough to drink on its own, or as an aperitif, but robust enough to enjoy through the entire course of a meal. According to Kaoru Hugel, the Japanese wife of the last Etienne Hugel, this wine “goes very well with any food, especially Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai, you don’t really have to think about it”. It also works perfectly to cut through the richer flavours of French food, especially pork, chicken, and very especially seafood. You’ll find Hugel Gentil available for dining in at Khéma, or why not pick up a bottle to enjoy at home?

Happy Birthday to You! And other Lucky Charms…

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Offerings of food, drinks and prayers are made to deceased relatives in pagodas

We don’t often think of food’s symbolic powers, but they’re still there all the time and every day. Whether it’s the extra portion of care you put into preparing a dish for someone you love, or the warm comfort of a simple meal that takes you back to your childhood, there is often a silent meaning in every bite we eat. Taken a step further, food can be linked not just to our innermost feelings and experiences, but also to a more communal, external sense of history and culture. This doesn’t just mean the shared recipes of a given place and time, but also the funny little things we do that turn food into a bridge between us and another invisible world: the ways we use food for luck or grace. And even the most secular souls among us are not immune to it. In the Western world, the most overt example of this is the Eucharist—whose origins can be traced back to the Jewish tradition of breaking and blessing bread—where Catholics partake of wine and bread in order to to remember Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and to ask forgiveness for their sins. According to the principles of transubstantiation, followers are literally consuming the body and blood of Christ when they eat the bread and drink the wine which, frankly, sounds a little barbaric. But it’s hard to imagine a more profound and intimate way of connecting with your god than by literally taking him into your own body. Here in Cambodia, the festival of Pchum Ben also sets out to transcend the barrier between the living and the dead with rice giving and rice balls intended to satiate the ancestors’ torturous hunger, and also to symbolise the good deeds done to help release them from their torments. This giving of food offers a kind of redemption to the living in return, so that as they offer the rice balls they can feel a certain personal relief from having taken positive and tangible steps towards allaying the suffering of their ancestors. This ritual would not be nearly as powerful or important if something other than food were at its heart, because as food that they could otherwise have consumed themselves, it comes from the very stomachs and bodies of the celebrants. But there are plenty of other, smaller ways we use food to bring luck or grace to ourselves and others that many of us do every day without even realising it. For example, unless you’re visiting the most irrepressible anarchist, you’ll never find a baguette turned upside down in a French person’s house thanks to an ancient belief that an upturned baguette is how the devil gets in. The Irish used to put a cross on their loaves before baking their bread to prevent the same devil from getting in and ruining them (he’s a tricky fellow, and may need to watch his carbs). And some today would still hang a loaf of bread in the house on Good Friday in order to keep away evil spirits. These traditions may remain, in little pockets and tiny threads, even if their meaning is lost, not in order to achieve the original desires of that tradition but in order to cement a sense of occasion and community which are arguably just as vital and life-preserving as keeping the devil out of your house. And sometimes, it’s just a question of a habit you didn’t even know you had. It’s bad luck to spill salt in the West where it’s considered that the best remedy for that is not to clean it up but to take a pinch and throw it over your left shoulder so that you can blind the devil as he swoops in (and, incidentally, create another mess to clean up). Have you ever been to a wedding where the bride and groom cut the first slice of the cake and handed out the slices? This goes back to a Victorian tradition that was supposed to herald fertility. And speaking of cakes, this is how we know that even the most diehard secular, scientific, materialist will have taken part in a ritual that was originally intended to ward off bad spirits, and joyfully too. The tradition of lighting and blowing out candles on a birthday cake can be traced back to the ancient Greeks who used to make moon-shaped cakes to celebrate the birth of the moon goddess Artemis. Burning candles on the cakes was believed to chase away the evil spirits who could be attracted by their revelries. Today even the most grey-minded of people would not refuse to share in this tradition, because as with so many customs around food, it is not the tradition, or the beliefs that birthed it, but the communality that counts. Cakes can carry portents of the future too. In Ireland, the Halloween barm brack (a fruit cake) will often carry tokens that foretell whether you’ll marry over the next year—a ring: yes, a pea: no—have money, or worst of all, an unhappy marriage symbolised by a matchstick, with which to beat your wife. The French Gallette des Rois, enjoyed around Chandeleur 40 days after Christmas, also confers the potential for future bliss, though sadly only for the one day on which you find the bean buried inside your slice of puff pastry and frangipani and are automatically crowned King. During Chandeleur too, hopeful brides from Brittany in northwest France can give themselves an extra edge in the marital stakes by throwing a crêpe on top of her wardrobe. We haven’t researched the origins of this particular custom yet, but imagine it may have something to do with someone getting their flip horribly wrong and having to make up an excuse for it on the spot. At this time, crêpes are also handy for bringing in money over the coming year if you can successfully flip one while holding a gold coin in your hand. In Cambodia, food of course plays a … Read more