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| Dear Food Lover |
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Civets make
crappy coffee,
and we love it!
Vietnamese Chon is one of the world's rarest coffees. And the reason: Palm civets, cat-like mammals, also prized for their musk. |
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| These animals eat, but only partially digest, premium arabica from the highlands of Indochina. During its "rite of passage" proteolysis creates a delicious bean. Ground pickers painstakingly collect the poop, wash it off then dry and roast the beans to make this tasty brew. Jamaican Blue Mountain, move over! |
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 How green is your morning cuppa? Analysis from Flexible Packaging Europe contends an electric kettle is so efficient, that making a cup of instant coffee produces fewer greenhouse emissions than brewing ground beans in a machine -- and that's despite all the processing that goes into manufacturing instant! |
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Our better solutions: French Press plunger pots; or for single shots, a Vietnamese phin-phe, a metal filter cup placed atop a small bistro glass. In Vietnam the beans are roasted jet black, often toasted with margarine and laced with brandy, espresso ground, and tempered with syrupy sweetened condensed milk. |
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• VIETNAM |
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Vietnam boasts Asia's strongest coffee culture, influenced from long years of French colonization. But unlike neighboring Cambodia and Laos, aficionados here linger in cafes socializing over tasty short blacks. To discover it yourself, join our Mekong Epicure tours to Vietnam 7-13 Jan, or to Laos and Cambodia from Dec 29 - Jan. 7. There's still space available, but hurry before mid-October price rises and and November's final deadline.
http://www.globetrottinggourmet.com/go/tours/2008newYears/index.htm Our Vietnam Delta tour includes 2 nights at La Veranda Grande Mercure -- just voted Conde Nast Hot List. Phu Quoc island -- set to become the country's premium resort -- is famous for world's best fish sauce & pungent red-ripened black pepper. Read Robert's article on Phu Quoc in Vacations & Travel >>>
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• LAOS |
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| La Folie is barely a year old, and on our first visit in April we savored views from its island locale, looking directly onto the former southern |
| capital of Champasak and Wat Phu's ancient Khmer ruins. While there, we met Jean-Dominique Martin, former Sydney-based photographer, who now calls Vientiane home. Photographing the resort for an upcoming magazine spread, he roped Morrison and Robert into one of the hotel's new promo pix. http://www.lafolie-laos.com |
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• RESTAURANTS: |
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| HCM/SAIGON On the 6 is Vietnam's hottest new restaurant. >>> Its sumptuous decor is choreographed by the film producers of Scent of Green Papaya fame, but its maestro chef Didier Corlou's ambrosial food that stars. Currently jet setting weekly to the southern capital, Corlou travels with a basket of spice treasures. All courses can be ordered "Classic" or "Creation" -- the later exquisite fusions of subtle taste layering, while "Classic" highlights Didier's traditional French training. http://www.onthe6.com.vn |
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Try his cold "lasagne" of squab with foie gras and green apple, layered with agar agar; taro soup redolent of vanilla and lightly garnished with sevruga; bread rolls laced with dried beef; and Breton artichokes+clams in a light curry sauce. Vietnam's Dalat is famed for artichokes (including a local herbal tea from the same!) but these are worth every green mile. Our Mekong Epicure tour group in Dec/Jan eats at Didier Corlou's Cambodian venture, L'Art d'Escales et des Sens in Siem Reap. For more details: |
| http://www.globetrottinggourmet.com/go/tours/2008newYears/index.htm |
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| BANGKOK Krua Apsorn is our latest Bangkok find, and we'll head back repeatedly. Décor is humble, but select dishes are quite simply 5-star. READ MORE >>> Sup on their crab meat with yellow chilli; yellow curry with lotus stems and shrimp; and plump phad cha fried mussels. Come early, and don't plan on dinner -- it closes by 7:30, and all the best dishes sold out well before. No website or email. 02-241-8528 Samsen Road |
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• HOTEL RAVES |
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SIEM REAP The One has another! Be, or "two" in Khmer, is the adjunct hotel to the town's most feted address. >>> Latest brainchild of American expat Martin Dishman, there's a spa, and Be's three gorgeous rooms -- two with massive rooftop gardens, and the smaller third with balcony overlooking a colourful alleyway. Downstairs, its trendy Aha restaurant, great for fusion tapas.
Go! www.hotelbeangkor.com |
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• BOOKS |
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Hot on the heels of A Book Addict's Treasury comes A Food Lover's Treasury. And you can tell this anthology is compiled by a passionate bibliophile. A witty cover sample from Samuel Johnson: "A Cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing." On the other hand, |
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some prosaic excerpts smack of desperation, such as: "Mrs Murphy's gastronomic skills were scanty. She was reckless in her use of fat which she poured |
| over her food, straight from the pan, treating it as a sauce." Still, a fun gift for the food lover who has everything. Published by Frances Lincoln. |
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| also available in Australia through Bookwise International: |
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| Nobu Miami, the Party Cookbook, by Matsuhisa and Buckley. Anyone questioning the universal popularity of Japanese cooking need look no further than Nobu, a restaurant chain that continues taking the world by storm. Sumptuous photography of Japanese fusion is a mouth watering treat, but we wonder who will be cooking from these pages? Chef Matsuhisa trained both in Japan and Peru (South America's leading culinary hot pot) and comes to Miami from an apprenticeship under Fernand Adria of El Bulli fame. We particularly like the desserts here. Kodansha publishers. |
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| We're a sucker for most regional cookbooks, and Khmer Cuisine |
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from Raffles hotels in Cambodia makes us feel like one. Not worth $10, and few authentically Cambodian dishes. A dipping sauce of just lemon juice and ground pepper hardly warrants a recipe (and it's not that delicious); likewise, a marinade of oyster sauce and sugar >>> edm@edmbooks.com.sg Occasional good research shines, but for better (and free) recipe advice, go to www.khmer.cc |
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• ANCIENT LOOT |
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| Pillaging of ancient Khmer sites continues. Bottom line: never buy ancient artefacts, especially sculptures, which are too often hacked from walls, thus destroying historical provenance. This April, thieves at Hotomo in southern Laos stole several 7th century carved lintels from its bucolic forest domain. That was barely weeks prior to our own visit. Meanwhile in May, Thai thugs drilled into the garudas (giant birds) of ancient Phimai, presumably for its "scared" grindings to place in amulets. And in Ayuthia, temple dogs and cats were poisoned in a brazen theft of a 400-year-old Buddha head. We consequently applaud the work of Heritage Watch. Next goal: for Singapore and Thailand to affirm the 1970 Unesco Convention prohibiting this illicit trade, especially as Bangkok and Singapore both are hub conduits. Sign its petition at www.heritagewatch.org/petition.php |
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Heritage Watch claims some 90% of the antiquities market is illegally acquired, and annually $6 billion worth of cultural artifacts stolen and traded. An estimated $20 million worth from Cambodia's since 1988, with little or no benefit to its poor citizens. >>> |
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• SUSTAINABLE TOURISM & RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL |
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| When in Cambodia, get a free copy of Touchstone magazine, a bi-monthly insider's guide to heritage, arts and culture. In both Laos and Cambodia, also check if your hotel offers Stay Another Day magazines. |
| The concept is simple: asking tourists to travel further afield, spreading tourism dollars closer to the actual source. www.stay-another-day.org |
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Heading to the Mekong?
Some 80 recommended activities and tours are profiled in the just-released The Guide to Responsible Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. www.mekongtourism.org |
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| Globetrotting Gourmet® specializes in low-impact small group and individual travel, and we strive to give our clients the most authentic experience possible. In return, we also designate a portion of our proceeds from each and every tour to a local worthy cause or training program. Robert & Morrison are committed to sustainable tourism and responsible travel. We recognize not only the environmental and cultural costs that tourism exerts, but conversely how to contribute positively. We ensure your dollars are directly spread throughout communities, to individual operators and small businesses alike. MORE>>> |
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• IN BRIEF |
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• THAILAND |
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| Our upcoming Mekong Epicure tour includes an initial night in Bangkok, as a convenient starting point for overseas arrivals. Sofitel Centrara Grand is located near the city's vast weekend Chatuchak flea market -- and well away from the city centre and governmental offices. However, if you are concerned about staying in Bangkok, we can help organize for your overseas arrival flight to connect directly to Laos. Alternatively, overnight at the Novotel at Suvarnabhumi airport, and join us the morning of Dec 30 for our flight to neighboring Laos. |
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• FLYING HIGH |
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| Australian readers will recall Schapelle Corby, who claimed airport baggage handlers stuffed marijuana into her checked-in luggage. In Japan, the same thing occurred, but with a twist! During an unauthorized test of a new sniffer dog, custom officials planted 142 g of cannabis in an unsuspecting tourist's bag. Unfortunately, the dog never caught wind of the find, the official forgot which bag they placed it in. Consequently, the tourist blithely went home with $10,000 worth of contraband. Japanese customs since apologized, claiming that the case was “extremely regrettable." Meanwhile, the responsible official says: “I knew that using passengers’ bags is prohibited, but I did it because I wanted to improve the sniffer dog's ability.” |
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• PRESS |
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 Globetrotting Gourmet® is written up in New Zealand's Cuisine (Sept. '08) voted the world's best culinary magazine. Read Ginny Grant's Article My Thai, profiling our work for the Isan Food Festival last March.
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Finally, congratulations to Morrison's niece
Reesha Taurins, for being awarded GOLD in the First Year apprentice awards for AusTAFE 2008 Culinary Trophy for Victoria.
KEEP COOKING REESHA! |
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• FESTIVALS |
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Isaan Food Festival March 6-8, '09 Khon Kaen Thailand. Globetrotting Gourmet® likes to think of this Northeast Thailand festival as our baby, having launched its inaugural masterclass earlier this year. New events include farm visits plus a Rice for Life hands on program. Held in the same 5-star Sofitel, the festival coincides with the property's re-branding to Pullman. It's still the finest hotel in the region, and a personal favorite. www.accorhotels-asia.com Congratulations also to its new general manager Ole Nielson, returning to his favorite hotel.
Food price hikes created grief for the Moslem holiday Ramadam, which came early this year. Being a lunar religious festival, dates change annually, and occasionally come as late as Christmas. In '08 Ramadan traverses September, with fasting through the daylight hours for 30 days. Each evening ends in tasty celebrations, with a veritable feast scheduled on the final dusk. North American dates are staggered one day later.
Meanwhile, the Chinese community celebrated Mid Autumn festival on 14 September -- and this year an official holiday on mainland China for the first time. Traditionally celebrated by offerings of moon cakes, the tradition originated with the overthrow of the Mongol Yuan dynasty in 1368. Secret messages of insurrection were hidden in cakes, with rebellion slated for the full moon. Today, moon cakes range from rustically humble to beautifully intricate. Less traditional, we love the chilled white chocolate moon cakes from Singapore's Raffles hotel, plus red bean- and green tea fillings. |
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• MEKONG EPICURE |
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Seats are still available for a gastronomic adventure of a lifetime!
Two great tours, three delicious options & four fascinating countries... |
Mekong Epicure Dec. 29 2008 -Jan 13, 2009
Bangkok, Laos, Cambodia Dec. 29-Jan 8
Vietnam Delta & Phu Quoc island Jan 8-13 |
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| Join us in Bangkok on 29 Dec or Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon on 8 Jan on our Mekong Epicure tours to former French Indochina. Pre- and post-tour extensions, accommodation and private guide can be easily arranged through us. |
| further details on www.asianfoodtours.com |
Cheers,
Robert & Morrison |
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business |
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Morrison Polkinghorne & |
| Robert Carmack |
| The Globetrotting Gourmet® |
| www.asianfoodtours.com |
| www.globetrottinggourmet.com |
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