Culinary Blog

The flavours of an Italy you’ve never imagined are coming to you soon at Siena. Opening soon, Siena Italian Steakhouse at the Flatiron Building in Phnom Penh is dedicated to bringing you the best of real Italian cooking, representing centuries of tradition from the north and south of the country. Our Executive Chef, Giuseppe Napoletano, Pino to his friends, has spent almost 40 years refining his skills in kitchens all over the world, and his dedication to original recipes using the best ingredients in order to bring you the sublime, authentic flavours of Italy is just one mark of his passion for his work. But that’s not to say that he doesn’t allow himself to get creative from time to time, which is the secret behind one of the trade mark dishes that you’ll find at Siena: Slow Cooked Crispy Eggs with Asparagus and Leek. This is an intricate dish, that is painstaking and time-consuming to prepare, but we think the rewards are worth it. And it also combines a variety of cooking styles, from slow-cooking the eggs at a low temperature for 50 minutes so that they cook through while keeping a silky texture. Then they’re left to settle in flat rice for a day before being wrapped in rice and deep-fried, so that silly egginess is matched by the crisp and crunchy exterior. It would be perfect just there, but there is more. The egg is set on a puff-pastry crust with a cream of asparagus and leek to add a softer crisp, and smooth, creamy earthiness of the vegetables. A marriage of tastes, textures and colours that we think is perfection on a plate. On a more traditional tack, one of Chef Pino’s favourite dishes is Risotto, one of those things that looks simple but in reality is far from it. Risotto is made from a medium to long-grain fino or superfino rice grown in the north of Italy, and the key to success lies in the attention and experience of the chef. The rice cooks in a stock that is introduced gradually over the cooking process, each ladleful being added as the last one is absorbed by the grains. It should also be stirred in order to help break up the starches that give the finished dish its luscious creaminess, but not too much, or all that creaminess will be lost. Chef Pino has gone to great lengths to source the very best risotto rice that Italy produces, and you’ll find it on Siena’s menu prepared with Shellfish, Courgette Pesto, a sweet Black Garlic Cream and Lime. Sublime… And for the sweeter things in life, we fall back again on Chef Pino’s creative side. It is an Italian Chocolate Ganache with Italian Black Rum, Almond Cookies and Raspberry and Mandarine Jelly (gelatine). Chef Pino came up with this delight as a way of bringing together all of his favourite things in one dessert, and he named it 1969, in honour of his birthday. We’re looking forward to celebrating your birthdays and more at Siena. Watch this space!

_Easter and lamb go together like Prahok and Aubergine. Where will you be celebrating yours? In the West, spring is many people’s favourite time of year. After an often long, cold, wet, windy and dark winter, the evenings start to brighten as the days lengthen, the chill factor drops to a gentle warmth — in the middle of the day anyway — delicate white and pink blossoms add a soft-scented decoration to bare tree branches, trees and hedgerows start to fill with birdsong, and everyone starts to feel a little more optimistic about the world. It’s glorious. But one of the biggest markers of spring is the appearance of little balls of white wool gambolling around the fields; it’s lambing season. Lamb has never really enjoyed the same cachet as beef and we think this is a gross injustice that punishes the judgers not the judged, because lamb is an infinitely more sophisticated meat, and it happens to be healthier too. While beef is known for its heavy, iron-rich flavour, lamb’s gamier flavour manages to be both lighter in one sense, but also more complex, sometimes more robust, and frankly it offers an altogether finer experience. Lamb’s full flavour comes from the fact that it is slightly fattier than beef (no fat = no flavour = no point in carrying on). However, despite having more fat, and slightly more calories, than beef, lamb is a healthier option because it contains more heart-healthy omega-3s than either grass or grain-fed beef. We will write about the libelling of fat another time. When baked to a golden crisp, lamb fat is one of those things that can rapidly become addictive. So, with that, one of the best signs that spring is here is finding yourself sitting down to a deliciously light but earthy bowl of Navarin d’Agneau, an emblematic springtime dish that brings together tender lamb and fresh spring vegetables in a deliciously light broth, and manages to be simple and sublime all at once. You’ll find our version of this perennial favourite at Khéma. On the other hand, if you prefer something with a little more heft and style, you can always enjoy a gorgeous Rack of Lamb, with a savoury potato tart and glazed spring vegetables, or a truly magnificent Baked Lamb Fillet in Puff Pastry at Topaz, two of our favourite dishes and the mark of a true sophisticate and flavour connoisseur. One of the most important Christian holidays all over the world, Easter will be Celebrated on April 9 this year. Commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, this feast holds a deep spiritual significance, but is also appreciated for its more secular values too, especially the occasion to get together with friends and family for a beautiful meal which, more often than not, is centred around lamb. Lamb has symbolic significance as a representation of Jesus Christ, the “Lamb of God” who sacrificed his life for the sins of all. It has over centuries become a symbol of renewal and new beginnings, but also of purity and goodness, and ultimately of course, of sacrifice, an echo of Jesus’s sacrifice of his own life. But the importance of lamb at this time of year predates even the story of the Resurrection and goes back to the story of the Passover, celebrated every year by Jews all over the world in commemoration of the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. Lamb entered the traditional Passover menu thanks to the biblical story found in the book of Exodus, where Jews in Ancient Egypt had to smear lamb’s blood on their doorposts to avoid a plague of God. When early Jews — who celebrated Passover by eating lamb to mark this occasion — converted to Christianity, they took this meal with them to celebrate Easter. Furthermore, lamb’s availability as an accessible meat after winter months with no livestock to slaughter would also encourage our ancestors to serve up a few lamb legs to celebrate. In France, lamb’s significance can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was a luxurious dish saved for the very wealthy. So if you’re looking to celebrate Easter this year, or simply looking to try something new and delicious, then we can heartily recommend a trip to Khéma or Topaz to try out our beautiful lamb dishes.

One of Cambodia’s most eagerly awaited celebrations is coming up this month, with Khmer New year (Choul Chnam Thmei) that will run for three days from 14 to 16 April. The festivities begin on the first day, Moha Sangkran, with ritual cleaning of house and body, a washing away of the year just passed and freshening for the year to come. Thanks are given to the Buddha for what has been, and for blessings yet to come, and time is taken to connect with family, honour ancestors and enjoy traditional feasts, games and ceremonies. It also marks the end of one harvest season, as farmers and workers enjoy the fruits of their labour. But why does New Year’s Day take place now? The clue is in the name, and it also shows us how Eastern and Western traditions are not so far apart as some might think. Sangkran is a derivative of the Sanskrit word Sankranti which refers to the migration of the sun from one zodiac to another in Indian astronomy. Within India, Nepal and elsewhere in South and Southeast Asia, it is a harvest festival that marks the end of winter solstice and the beginning of the sun’s journey northwards, bringing longer days and warmer weather. As here, Sangkranti is a time for joy and celebration among families, with gifts, games and traditional rituals. That means that the beginning of each month in the Hindu calendar is Sankranti, but not all are celebrated in the same way and Mesha Sankranti (from which Moha Sangkran is derived) is one of the most important, marking the beginning of the New Year as the sun moves into Aries, which generally falls on 14 or 15 April, and is the first day of the solar cycle year. Anyone who follows Western astrology now knows why Aries is always listed first. In the west, we follow a tropical calendar based on the seasons, which is why our New Year falls on January 1, though that is a relatively recent phenomenon for which we can thank the Romans. Until 700BCE, our New Year was celebrated in March, in line with the spring equinox. But if you examine contemporary Western language used to describe this period of the sun moving into Aries, you’ll find it has a great deal in common with Cambodian beliefs about this time of year. It is a time of energy, renewal, change and transformation, a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. It is also about sheep! Aries is signified by the ram, or male sheep. So you see, we’re not so different after all.

A new guide from the Cambodia Restaurant Association shines a much-needed light into the maze of rules and regulations you need to be aware if your restaurant is to be compliant. The Cambodia Restaurant Association has published a 150-page guidebook on setting up a restaurant business in Cambodia that is compliant with all laws and regulations, in just eight days. Titled “Create Your Restaurant Enterprise in 8 Days”, the guide offers a comprehensive map through the entire regulatory terrain of business licensing, registration and overall compliance concerning restaurant businesses in Cambodia. As such, it is an invaluable resource not just for those who are looking to set up a new business, but also for those who have established businesses but are confused by the current legal landscape. The guide, which is available in English and Khmer, covers everything from registration, e-commerce compliance, taxation, employment, health and safety, licensing, fire safety, domain name registration, environmental protection and then Endowment Fund, and finally handicraft permits. The comprehensive guide has broken down legal obligations according to the government department overseeing different aspects of running a business, and then goes into detail about the nature of those obligations, and how to comply with them. Flowcharts offer a visual representation of the processes, including the decisions that need to be made along the way, which helps enormously in seeing the proper way forward, and also to envisioning the end in sight! The Cambodia Restaurant Association is a non-profit business association created in order to support the restaurant industry in Cambodia and to give a voice to their collective needs and concerns for the benefit of all. We think this will be an essential guide for anyone and everyone in the business, and urge you to pick

[Adapted from an article in Cambodge Mag: https://www.cambodgemag.com/post/livre-gastronomie-la-cuisine-rurale-d-angkor-par-ang-choulean] The esteemed Cambodian scholar Ang Choulean’s near 300-page essay on the culinary habits and diets of people during the Angkor era can be found at the Center for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap. Available for lending in French and Khmer, it is the result of nearly two decades of research on the era and the region, especially the Roluos area, and an inspiring resource for those interested in Cambodia’s culinary history. His findings demonstrate the historical continuity of Cambodian cuisine since ancient times, and the definitive rural and vegetal character of the Cambodian diet. He also records how the apparent simplicity of village food accurately responded, and still responds, to nutritional and gustatory needs of the moment. Far from being a collection of recipes, or following a “structuralist” approach to Cambodian agrarian society, the essay deals with “culinary situations”: the when, where, how, by whom and for what purpose cooked food was and is prepared in the context of the villages near Angkor Wat. Choulean’s research encompasses fishing and hunting techniques, agricultural skills, the time and place of meals, cooking methods, the use of spices — quite limited, although Cambodian pepper is praised worldwide — and special occasions, as well as linguistic and historical considerations. Of particular interest is the author’s reflection on the (surprisingly for many scholars) limited, if any, influence of Indian cuisine on the diet and tastes of rural Cambodia, while the ‘taste of Chinese food’ was integrated into festive meals as a symbol of material wealth and prosperity. At the heart of the rural diet is somla (stew), which the author presents in two main categories, somla mchou (‘sour stew’) and somla prohoc (the word prohoc here defining the ‘stimulating’ taste imparted by herbs and leaves, not to be confused with prahok, the famous fermented fish preparation). As for cooking techniques, the author defines, for example, chha kdao, literally “stir-fried hot”, fried in hot cooking liquid, and p-krek, a term imitating the dry sound of ingredients just heated in a pan without liquid or fat, “dry-cooked”, a technique used for ants, among other things. The symbolism of ingredients is also explored in depth. For example, the author notes that lemongrass, although widely used, is rarely retained in the final presentation of the dish, as villagers believed that the ageing tufts of the aromatic herb may be inhabited by evil spirits. Ang Choulean is an anthropologist, Professor of Historical Anthropology at the Royal University of Fine Arts and former Director of the Department of Culture at APSARA. He was the second Cambodian national to receive the Fukuoka Grand Prize in 2011.