Kampot pepper and Khmer cuisine enchant Le Monde

Under the titles “Backlash for Kampot pepper ” and “On the banks of the Tonle ́ Sap , at the sources of Cambodian cuisine”, Stéphane Davet , gastronomic journalist, published on April 20 in the columns of the newspaper Le Monde deux articles that report on his gourmet stay in Cambodia in February. He gives particular prominence to Kampot pepper , prahok and the flavors of village cuisine around the Great Lake. “It would be hard to find a Western chef capable of talking about prahok , this fermented fish paste, a central element of Khmer cuisine. But there are countless chefs (in France: Anne-Sophie Pic, Hélène Darroze , Olivier and Hugo Roellinger , etc.) who praise these berries growing between the sea and (small) mountains”, writes Stéphane Davet by way of introduction. to his article on Kampot pepper .

Guided in his discovery by Dr Hay Ly Eang, founder of Confirel, which, under the Kirum brand , exports a large part of the production of this spice, the journalist notes that “it is above all the different stages and drying techniques that allow these Khmer jewels to develop and bring aromas and flavors so prized by experts, that their spiciness, more delicate than many other piperaceae, is adorned with camphor and minty notes as for black pepper, with a sweetness of red fruits and candied orange for the exceptional red pepper, or of a raised heat of grapefruit for the white pepper”.

Kampot pepper has come a long way,” Dr. Hay talked to him, since the arrival of the first plants at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century from Indonesia. After having experienced a golden age under the protectorate during which some 8,000 tonnes were produced each year, Stéphane Davet recalls that it almost disappeared with the Khmer Rouge regime – the planters were converted to the cultivation of rice – before reappearing timidly in the 1990s and then regaining its place as the king of peppers on the international scene thanks to the obtaining of an IGP in 2009, recognized by the European Union in 2016.

During this visit to the Confirel plantations, the gastronomic journalist had his taste buds particularly excited by the red pepper. “Star of the appellation, red pepper is obtained by letting the berries mature. Picked one by one by hand, their color being protected by alternating boiling water and ice water before drying, they offer exuberant flavors of citrus fruits and cherries. To try, for example, on a fillet of bass with lemongrass, a foie gras accompanied by a citrus reduction or a strawberry salad”, he writes.

Having left the mountainous coasts of the Gulf of Thailand, it is on the banks of the Tonlé Sap that the journalist then went to amaze his taste buds. And obviously, the prahoc did not leave them unmoved. “Like durian and ‘stinky tofu’, this greyish fermented fish paste has one of the worst odor reputations in Asian cuisine. What delights, however, are born from this condiment, sometimes described as “Cambodian cheese”, present on all the tables of the country”, ignites Stéphane Davet .

Fish, plants, condiments, the incredible variety of products made available to cooks by nature in and around the Grand Lac, did not fail to amaze the journalist who could not resist the urge to cook in a small village to prepare some traditional dishes under the guidance of the hostesses of the place.

The Khmer culinary heritage has long been little honored in the restaurants of Phnom Penh, which delegated this task to street canteens, notes Stéphane Davet . “Unlike the Thais, we have not been able to enhance our cuisine,” admitted Luu Meng, chef of several restaurants in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap because, according to him, of “a lack of pride and transmission accentuated by the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime in the second half of the 1970s”.

Stéphane Davet , captivated by Khmer flavors and culinary creativity, pays, in his two articles, a wonderful tribute to a too little-known heritage that Confirel has been honored for more than 20 years to highlight on the world gastronomic scene. Reference: https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-passe-a-table/article/2023/04/20/cambodge-retour-de-flamme-pour-le-poivre-de-kampot_6170350_6082232.html