The Shreya Dutta Food Blog: Laos baby!!

So, I was in Laos for two weeks as most of you know by now for an overseas learning project. We mainly visited Vientiane and Luang Prabang and traveled to and from the villages and Luang Prabang by boat along the Mekong river. Even though the trip was both physically and mentally taxing, we had quite a bit of relaxation time and with the sponsorship and assistance of YMCA and engineering companies Rezeca Renewables and Yingli Solar, the project was overall a success. During the strenuous course, the food helped us to a great extent to unwind. Even though the food was quite bland for an Indian's taste during the stay in the villages, our freelance guide and self-proclaimed chef did his best to give us a bite of all the famous Laotian dishes and he did so by cooking them on his own, with some guidance from Mr. Phuviang, the translator/ receptionist who accompanied us as well and few villagers.

The first night that we arrived in Luang Prabang, we were in for a grand treat. They took us to an elegant restaurant called Tamnak Lao Restaurant. We had a fair share of a typical Laotian fare: chicken cooked in coconut milk, watercress soup, Lao special sausages, bamboo shoots fried in rice flour batter, sticky rice and Mok Pa which is fish steamed in banana leaf. We ended the meal with fresh fruits.

While we were in the village Mr. Tae cooked various authentic dishes for us namely Luang Prabang salad which is watercress mixed with peanuts, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs in a salad dressing; Khao Poon or Lao Laksa which is Lao style rice vermicelli noodle soup with watercress and beansprouts; variations of bamboo shoot dishes; Rice porridge with pork/ chicken; caviar with lemon grass; different types of soups and meat dishes. His cooking deserves a thumbs up, even though I'm not used to that kind of rice. The salad and porridge especially deserved and received three helpings.

During the Rest and Relaxation ( R & R) weekend in between, we tried out local dishes such as sausages and pineapple fried rice and an extremely posh Western restaurant where we had a sumptuous quota of pizza, tartines, pasta, quiches, steaks and desserts. The bigshots from the various companies chose to be welcomed by a Mookata restaurant in Luang Prabang.

In the first village we were bid farewell with a dish of a fresh catch from the Mekong river. In the second village, a pig was slaughtered in front of the leaders' eyes and its various parts were cooked differently to be served for the farewell/ appreciation dinner. At night, not only did we get the pork but some of the pig's hair and blood on our platter. 'Dubious' is the most subtle word that I can use to describe both experiences.

Among the other miscellaneous items that we ate/drank, the Khao Tom (sweet dish made of rice wrapped in banana leaf cooked in coconut milk), Tam Mak Hoong ( spicy papaya salad, which was too spicy for most of our tastes), Lao Iced Coffee, BeerLao and Lau Lao (rice whiskey) were the most memorable. The pineapples from Luang Prabang outskirts are the sweetest I've had so far and the rambutans, litchis and mangosteens are commendable as well.