About our book

“Food from Northern Laos describes the dishes, ingredients and cooking arts of this scarcely known cuisine within its cultural context.”

Food from Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook

Winner of two Goumand World Cookbooks awards:
Runner up Best Asian Cookbook (World) 2010, Best Cookbook for Lao PDR  2010

You’ll love this book if you:
  • Want to know how to cook Lao dishes and what herbs and other ingredients and techniques to use
  • Love travel books and social histories as well as cookbooks
  • Are interested in different cultural food traditions and want a wider cultural understanding of Laos through the people and their food.
  • Are a cook or chef wanting to explore different flavours and textures.
  • Are health conscious and realise that the Lao balance of ingredients, using meat and fish in small quantities in vegetable dishes is a healthy way to eat.
  • Are local or expat Lao who wants a “Lao food reference manual” with pictures and information about local food all in one place.

Check out some sample pages from the 200 page book “Food from Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook”:

The little known cultures and cuisine of northern Laos are the source of the recipes, contributed by Laos’ local ethnic groups and Luang Namtha Province’s oldest and most renown ecolodge.

Few outsiders have the opportunity to explore the foods of northern Laos in depth. Much of it is only available in people’s homes and villages or from the cooking pots of local stalls and markets. Restaurants generally present ‘pan Asian’ dishes to meet tourist’s expectations and the locals’ need for different tastes than a home cooked meal. Cookbooks on Lao food are scarce and until now, did not cover Lao cuisine north of Luang Prabang. But now, Food from Northern Laos describes the dishes, ingredients and cooking arts of this scarcely known cuisine within its cultural context. With this book, we hope Lao cooking will gain the recognition it deserves.

Eighty-eight dishes from Lao, Kmhmu’, Tai Dam, Tai Yuan, Tai Lue Akha are presented in clear, simple recipes. Sprengers’ stunning photography of the province’s people and, food preparation in village homes and at The Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant ties the dishes to their indigenous setting. unique cookbook includes:

  • A photo-illustrated glossary of ingredients and substitutions
  • Descriptions of Lao preparation and cooking techniques
  • An explanation of traditional cooking equipment
  • A bibliography, including web links
  • An 18 page comprehensive index in English, Lao transcription and Lao script

Publisher: Galangal Press ISBN 978-0-473-17236-7, 200 pages, full colour – more than 400 photos, crown quarto signature paperback

Read more about the book

5 thoughts on “About our book

  1. What a great book! We had the pleasure of Dorothy and Kees coming to our house in Thailand, we are a Laos family originally, so the family where frankly stunned, that this lovely New Zealand lady cooked them food that their own grand parents cooked.

    This book is very import – not for the great recipes, but for my family, the cultural importance of finding a resource that preserves their history.

    Thanks again to Dorothy and Kees, and buy the book, it’s great!

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  2. When i first saw this book on Facebook by a relative (owns a Laotian restaurant) I told her I was going to try and order it online or at amazon.com. However after finding it here and flipping through.. I won’t be ordering it. The book only has 28 pages and maybe 10 dishes. How can you publish a cook book with only 28 pages and less than a dozen recipes?

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    1. Hi, Sam,
      We’re sorry for your misunderstanding, in fact only a sample of the book is on Facebook and on our website “flipping book” feature. The hard copy colour cookbook has 200 pages, more than 88 Lao dishes, extensive illustrated ingredient, preparation and cooking technique sections and a full Lao script, Lao phonetics and English index. You can check out the book on Amazon – through their “look inside” feature, but Amazon limits that to 10% of the total book, so use the search feature to find out if it really suits you. We hope this news will bring a smile to your eyes and good food to your tummy! Kees and Dorothy

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  3. I bought this book last week in Vientiane for I love Lao cooking for many years and like to have authentic receipes to try out more authentic dishes. And it is great. Not only the warm hearted story of the Boat Landing and it’s people, also the descriptions of ingredients and ways to substitute things you can’t buy in Germany (my home country where I am now and tried the first dish “Luang Prabang fried rice” yesterday – delicious) are helpful and unique.

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