“We hope our website and cookbook will bring the world of Lao food to your table and to your taste buds.”
Welcome to the Food from Northern Laos website and blog, a sister site to The Boat Landing. Lao food is delicious! We love the richness and diversity of Lao ingredients, food and cultures and want to share them with the world. The industrialized world has a lot to learn from Laos about food. The recent term “slow food” is what Lao food is all about – food locally and sustainably produced, fresh, with preparation not being a resented chore of tin opening, thawing and premixes, but a daily part of the rhythm of life, to be enjoyed and shared.
In Laos, the local fresh markets and forest provide an abundance of local produce, harvested or gathered the same day. No huge but tasteless vegetables in plastic packs here – everything is picked small – a stunning variety of natural “micro greens” and eaten or sold the same day. Whats a refrigerator for? If you are lucky enough to have one, it is used to cool drinks, of course, not to store food or ingredients – Lao want fresh! Really, really fresh! The various ethnic groups of Lao have never had to discover ‘slow food’ or ‘micro-greens’ because they have always had it, and many don’t realize how truly rich they are with such a vibrant food tradition.
Unfortunately, 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.
We hope that this blog and our now out of print cookbook which is soon to be made available in pdf from our site will bring the Lao world of food to your table and to your taste buds.
Food from Northern Laos 