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Food From Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook Paperback – Color, September 20, 2010

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

Includes over 400 color photographs. "An encyclopaedic resource for lovers of Lao food everywhere!" The little known cultures and cuisine of Northern Laos (Lao PDR) are showcased in the recipes of its local ethnic groups and Luang Namtha Province's premiere ecotourism lodge. Eighty-eight dishes from Lao, Khmu, Tai Dam, Tai Yuan and Akha are presented in clear, simple recipes. The stunning photography of life and food preparation in village homes and at The Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant ties the dishes to their indigenous setting. This unique cookbook includes: 80+ recipes from Laos, a 28-page photo-illustrated glossary of Lao ingredients with suggestions for their Western substitutes, a detailed description of Lao preparation and cooking techniques, information about traditional Lao cooking equipment and substitutes, a bibliography, including weblinks, and a comprehensive index in English, Lao transcription and Lao script. Winner of two Goumand World Cookbooks awards: Runner up Best Asian Cookbook (World) 2010, Best Cookbook for Lao PDR 2010.
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Galangal Press; First Edition (September 20, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 200 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0473172364
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0473172367
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.3 pounds
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 21 ratings

About the author

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Dorothy Culloty
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Since 2002 I have been documenting northern Lao food preparation, Lao ingredients, and Lao recipes, which has culminated in the book "Food from Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook". Prior to this I produced 9 postcards of Lao recipes as a trial to show local people what I was doing and assembled a Lao (phoetics and Lao script) and English guide to the vegetables of Laos.

BL (Before Laos) I had an extensive professional background in public sector human resource and organisational change management in New Zealand and also worked for international consultancies in change management and career counselling. But I got tired and disenchanted with working with large organisations and the stress wrought on staff by repeated restructuring. It was also getting increasingly difficult to manage a case load of clients and make regular trips to Laos to do what I really wanted to do: Lao food anthropology and the promotion of Lao food and Lao recipes in the West. Kees, my husband, also loved Laos and had his own passionate interest: photography. So in 2004 we rented the house to friends and moved to Lao PDR as volunteers with New Zealand’s VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad) supported by NZAid. My role was training and publications advisor for the Rural Research and Development Training Centre, in Vientiane. The three and a half year assignment rapidly grew into a wider management coaching and mentoring role. It was fun, and constructive work with wonderful people. Throughout that period Kees and I continued to make trips to Luang Namtha documenting food and ethnic religious ceremonies. We now live in Thailand by the beach and visit Lao PDR regularly, promoting our cookbook, adding to our information on Lao food and cultures and working on the next project.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
21 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the recipes in the book authentic and excellent. They appreciate the colorful pictures with details of ingredients and preparation. The book covers a wide range of areas, with detailed information on recipes and their evolution over time.

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13 customers mention "Recipes"13 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the authentic and excellent recipes in the book. They find the colorful pictures and details on ingredients and preparation helpful. The book provides an extensive listing of Lao ingredients and cooking techniques, making it a useful cooking resource. Readers also mention that the cuisine is healthy and easy to prepare.

"...The recipes are clear and easy to follow, and often explain how the finished dish should taste, which is great, since I suspect few have had the..." Read more

"...the dishes, ingredients, processes of preparing food, the people and cultures, and the people who have made The Boat Landing Guesthouse a success...." Read more

"...books is great, I love the colorful pictures and details of the ingredients and preparation...." Read more

"...The balance of cultural background, ingredients/techniques, and recipes makes this a book a fun read as well a useful cooking resource...." Read more

9 customers mention "Picture quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's pictures. They find the pictures nice, colorful, and well-illustrated. The recipes are detailed and cover a wide variety of topics.

"...Beautiful photographs accompany every recipe, showing what the finished dish should look like...." Read more

"...The photographs visually document the dishes, ingredients, processes of preparing food, the people and cultures, and the people who have made The..." Read more

"...like me who loves Laotian food this books is great, I love the colorful pictures and details of the ingredients and preparation...." Read more

"...The photography is beautiful and makes an already excellent book just that much more interesting...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2011
    There are few Laotian cookbooks available, which is unfortunate, as the cuisine of Laos is healthy, more easily prepared than some other Asian cuisines, and delicious. This book is required reading for any cook who likes to make southeast Asian foods, beginner or experienced. The book begins with an introduction to the people and culture of northern Laos, but this is a cookbook, not a travelogue, as many recent cookbooks are. It follows with an extensive listing of Lao ingredients, cooking techniques, and, especially welcome for those who may not have a large Asian market handy, suggested substitutions. Beautiful photographs accompany every recipe, showing what the finished dish should look like. The recipes are clear and easy to follow, and often explain how the finished dish should taste, which is great, since I suspect few have had the opportunity to taste most of these recipes before. Many of the recipes include possible variations of the main ingredient or the seasonings, making the actual number of recipes in the book many more than the notes on the book indicate. For the recipes I have cooked, I have had to make no corrections, only adjusting the seasonings as suggested in the recipes to suit my tastes.I strongly recommend this book.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2010
    Food from Northern Laos: The Boat Landing Cookbook is a wonderful compilation of Lao culture, particularly focusing on ethnicities living in the northwest region of Laos. The photographs visually document the dishes, ingredients, processes of preparing food, the people and cultures, and the people who have made The Boat Landing Guesthouse a success. It has taken the dedication of all involved to not only make The Boat Landing the most politically-correct place to stay in the country but to bring this book to print.

    The recording of the recipes is special as many have not been written down before. The cookbook demonstrates that the recipes are constantly evolving, adapting to the times. For example, the use of Knorr's soup granules is found in some recipes. Food from Northern Laos allows the world to become familiar with a remote corner of the world. It is no longer so remote!

    Congratulations!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2011
    For someone like me who loves Laotian food this books is great, I love the colorful pictures and details of the ingredients and preparation. There are many recipes that I always wanted to know how to make but I wish that they had done this one dish "Nèm muang Louang" that is not in the book which is made base of sticky rice that has been dried out and then crushed in a mortar with ingredients, and this can be eaten with lettuce, other green veggies, peanuts, dry pork skin...But overall I recommend this book to anyone who always wanted to know how to cook real traditional Laotian food.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2011
    I really enjoyed this book and have tried quite a few of the recipes. The balance of cultural background, ingredients/techniques, and recipes makes this a book a fun read as well a useful cooking resource. The photography is beautiful and makes an already excellent book just that much more interesting. There are not many books on the topic of Laotian cuisine and even fewer that i would consider to be authentic. That makes this book a really great find. I would recommend this book for anyone curious to try Lao cooking or for those already familiar with the topic but looking to add some northern dishes to their repertoire.
  • Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2011
    If I were taking a long slow trip in Laos next week, I'd leave the guidebook and take this cookbook.

    Much of the food described can be found from Pakse to Phongsali, with perhaps slight variations to the name or ingredients.. This is not only a regional cookbook but also a national cookbook. Every major food type eaten in Laos is found in this book categorized in a logical manner and described in infinite detail with ingredients and names in English, transliterated Lao, and Loa script itself. The ingredients section is enough to make a botanist blush.

    In a word I'd say authentic, there's not one off note. Lao food as it is cooked in Lao kitchens today in Laos. An even 200 pages written as if they wanted 400. No extraneous words, every single word, photo, description, recipe, chosen with care. A coming out party for Lao food.

    Dorothy Culloty, the author was in a unique position to make this book all come together. Spending so much time over seven years in Laos alone wouldn't have been enough. Dorothy also understood cooking, food, cookbooks, and writing. Dorothy and her husband Kees Sprengers spent much of their seven years at the Boat Landing Guest house, Laos' original ecotourism lodge. The Boat Landing with it's reputation for serving real Lao food, Kees photographic abilities, and Dorothy's writing talents all combined like the ingredients of a good soup to produce a book far greater than it's individual parts.

    Besides the food of lowland Lao there are also recipes and description of the food of the Khmu, Lue, Tai Yuan, and Lanten minorities. Even a photo of old Namat Gao as it used to be before relocation.

    There are photographs not only in detail of the foods and ingredients but of the people cooking the food and eating it. People obviously very close to Kees the photographer.

    To date there has never been a similar compilation of the foods, ingredients, and cooking of Laos in anything approaching such thoroughness, complexity size, or beauty.
    13 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Percy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant - a warm and inspiring book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2018
    Brilliant - a warm and inspiring book. Recipes are fantastic - we've done a fair few now. Surprisingly one of my more used cookbooks - wasn't expecting that to be the case. If you're in a cold climate like us then BBQ your garlic/shallots etc and shove in the freezer for the winter for good smokey Lao flavours