Before I post about the Cardamons
crossing-and some other things that have happened since- I thought
I'd give you a heads-up on my culinary findings.
There is two things that I cant live
without since I got to Cambodia.
Ice coffee with milk.
A very simple but effective combination
of instant coffee, crushed ice and condensed sweet milk. Sometimes
served unstirred (my preference), with the milk sitting in the
bottom. Instructions:
DON'T stir it. Suck gently until you
feel the milk in the tip of your tongue. Lift the straw until it
reaches the coffee and suck some more. Lift your tongue a bit so that
the bitter coffee flows under it. Lift it some more and let the thick
sweet milk touch your palate and as it becomes thinner, flow and mix
with the coffee. Swallow. Repeat until satisfied/finished. A note:
Locals don't drink it this way and you are expected to stir it once
served, so don't be alarmed when the coffee lady looks at you as if
you are mad, just learn how to say “no problem”, and go elsewhere
to reflect on how such a trivial drink can be a genuine attack on the
senses.
Chilli Sauce
Comes in two flavors:
The very spicy one. A small drop will
bring back memories long forgotten and tears to your eyes. Its
aftertaste will remind you that life is sweet and apparently
ketchupy.
The mild one. It will make even the
blandest food exciting. A plate of rice will never look the same
again.
After two months of rice and noodles,
it was time for some exploring. Here's the report:
Snake
Very tasty if grilled correctly. If
overdone, it can be used to play tennis or against the riot police if
you happen to be in Greece during this winter. It's got lots of
scales, and a part-chicken, part-fish flavor. Served with
salt-pepper-and-something-white-and-sweet seasoning.
Duckling
Few images are more disturbing than a
boiled duck embryo in an egg, I must admit it required some courage
on my behalf to try it. Once you get past that though, it's quite
tasty, very chicken egg-like, with a slight taste of liver. The body
is extremely soft apart from some crunchy bits-the bones I presume-
and can be squashed easily before eaten. There might be a few
feathers in there, just push them aside. Served with salt, pepper and
a bit of sliced garlic.
Bugs
Lots of them, in different sizes. The
small ones are crunchy, something like almost burned potato chips
with a sweet twist. The big ones require some work, you need to peel
the upper part of the shell and eat the rest which, well, to be
honest, tastes like shit.
Turtle
Fried in ginger and curry, very tasty,
the flesh is quite tender and beef-like. The legs are chewy as hell.
As for the head, even the Khmers I had it with were a bit hesitant
and in the end nobody ate it. Didn't make any difference though,
since it was already cut in half with the brain-matter scattered in
the rest of the food.
Tarantulas
Had it for breakfast after a night of
heavy drinking. Didn't help my hangover at all. Fried in the same
sweet sauce as the bugs, most of it is crunchy and tasty apart from
the back part of the body that has something like minced liver and a
soft, white and relatively tasteless bit that I guess is the silk. I
also discovered I'm allergic to them, bummer!
Dog
Before coming here I had sworn to my
self that it would be the only thing I wouldn't eat. Well, I lasted 2
months. It's very chewy, as expected. It reminded me strongly of
goat, both in smell and taste. There's sausages included, intestines
for the outer part and liver and other atrocities for the filling,
yummy! Served with banana tree thingies that are dipped in a bowl of
dog-broth. When I asked them where they get the dogs they pointed at
the street, but I think they were taking the piss.
Merry Christmas!
