Cambodia: Details are Sketchy

Writing in the Asia Sentinel, Mark Fenn takes at look at the reemergence of Cambodian cuisine.

Overshadowed as it is by two of Asia’s most famous and distinctive cuisines – Thai and Vietnamese – and beset by reports of spiders on the menu — what Cambodia eats has long been overlooked, not least because in the wake of the devastation wrought by the Khmer Rouge a generation ago, there was virtually nothing to eat.

But today things are starting to change. Cambodian food is beginning to win an enthusiastic following among gourmands for its freshness and subtle flavors   as well it should. Cambodia’s gastronomic oeuvre draws influences from both of its bigger neighbors, as well as from China and even France, but it is growing in importance in its own right.

As globe-trotting, beer-swilling Phil is quoted in the story saying, not much ever gets written about Cambodian food beyond the country’s infamous fried spiders. Not that the Sentinel story necessarily breaks the mold — spiders are mentioned five times, and the story’s singular photo is of a spider seller — but it does give a pretty good background on Cambodian food, and how the country’s cuisine fits into the larger region.

So while Fenn’s piece might not signal a new beginning in Cambodian food writing, it hopefully signals the beginning of the end for clichéd spider stories. Journalists of the world please take note.