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Two Summer Tastes of Laos – Rambling Spoon blog

By Karen J. Coates / Photo by Jerry Redfern
June 20, 2011
Rambling Spoon

©2010 Jerry RedfernHappy solstice!

Lao food, to me, is synonymous with summer. Even if it’s not summer when you eat it, the flavors will take you to a warm, sunny day. It’s the abundance of fresh herbs, and the heat of those crisp little chiles. It’s the scent of lemongrass and shallot; and the flavor of smoke.

But mostly, I think, it’s the outdoors—because just about every Lao meal is pounded, smoked, grilled, stewed or even fried outside. And even when it’s not outside, chances are, it’s still cooked over fire, possibly in a little kitchen cubbyhole separated from the sun and wind and rain by just a few wood planks or bamboo slats. And it still smells like the outdoors.

I confess, I’ve been holding out. I’ve had my hands on a couple of Lao cookbooks that have entered the scene in the past year or so—and it’s about time. The country’s varied cuisines simply don’t get enough attention. READ MORE

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Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner – Rambling Spoon

By Karen J. Coates / Photo by Jerry Redfern
May 3, 2010
Rambling Spoon

©2010 Jerry RedfernA while back, I posted my account of eating for nine days in the northern Lao village of Sophoon. That was an example of what comes to the dinner table when the hosts know they have guests to feed. A few days ago, we trekked to the Hmong village of Ban Pakeo, several hours on foot from another Hmong village outside of Phonsavanh. We went there for a variety of reasons (old jars, for one), and you’ll have the opportunity to read much more about this in the future. But first, let’s consider dinner.

Ban Pakeo has no electricity (though that might change if villagers agree on allowing solar panels into their community). When we visited five years ago, villagers had to walk up and down steep hills to retrieve small buckets of water (that’s changed, thanks to a couple of water taps installed by Engineers Without Borders and a man named Don May at Fort Lewis College). Ban Pakeo has a cell phone, but it takes an afternoon hike to charge the phone in the nearest roadside village. Bottom line: no one knew we were coming for dinner. READ MORE

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A Rural Lao Food Diary – Rambling Spoon blog

By Karen J. Coates / Photo by Jerry Redfern
April 7, 2010
Rambling Spoon

©2010 Jerry RedfernLast month, we spent nine days in the field with Jim Harris’s team in rural Phongsali province. We camped at the local dispensary and showered with cold river water, which was piped uphill to the village. The team hired two young women to cook, clean and launder. Our meals were served communally, outside, on an old red table. There weren’t enough benches and chairs, so we stood around baskets of sticky rice and the plat du jour. Each person paid 30,000 kip ($3.50) for three daily meals.

In those nine days, I kept a diary of what we ate. With a few small exceptions (late meals, off trekking), I managed to record almost every meal. I present that diary here because I find it a fascinating telltale of village life, its limitations, its repetitions and routines. Villagers bestowed the team with little gifts of homegrown garlic and backyard tamarind. But after the novelty faded (Sophoon is unaccustomed to foreign guests), I don’t think our cooks quite knew what to do with us. I would have loved more of the roots and vegetables that villagers collect in the forest, as well as the greens they grow in their garden. I offered to pay extra for fresh lettuce, spinach, herbs and other greens–but the residents of Sophoon almost never sell their vegetables, so the concept somewhat confused them. When something new appeared on the table, it likely had come strapped to the back of a dusty moto, driven by itinerant peddlers who make the daily trek from Dien Bien Phu, not far across the border. These sorts of travels make me a more appreciative person. The surprise of a fresh mango or mustard leaves tickled my palate with delight. READ MORE

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My Kind of Neighborhood – Rambling Spoon

By Karen J. Coates / Photo by Jerry Redfern
May 12, 2007
Rambling Spoon

This photo belongs to Jerry Redfern. Not for reproduction in any means.A few weeks back, while my stomach still suffered from the pasty and other Midwestern delights, I went hunting for familiar food. Asian food. Chile and rice, spicy and nice. The stuff that makes my gut feel at home.

I went straight to 35th and National, a nifty little block of Milwaukee where the flavors of Mexico and Laos mingle, door to door. Actually, I was looking for the Vientiane Noodle Shop, which came highly recommended by friends with good noses for good Asian eats. But by twist of karma, I ended up across the street at the Noodle House, where I stumbled upon a community of Hmong refugees who had settled in Milwaukee via the refugee camps in northern Thailand. READ MORE

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A Sobering Lunch – Rambling Spoon blog

By Karen J. Coates / Photo by Jerry Redfern
April 26, 2006
Rambling Spoon

don't steal photosWe’ve been watching UXO Lao at work, scoping the ground for unexploded bombs. This week, they’re working through a hectare that spans three families’ front yards.

When it’s lunchtime, it’s lunchtime. READ MORE