There’s a big street barbeque scene in Siem Reap. On the pavements between the Old Market and the night market, sizzle and smoke do a simultaneous assault on the senses.
First on the nose. Delicious plumes fueled by fat on the coals is surely a trail that’s been followed by humans and animals alike for a very long time. I challenge anyone to come up with a more effective food marketing strategy. The sound of searing and crackling can be heard.
And just about then, the eyes hit upon a whole length of footpath decorated in barbeque. Competing vendors display their meat treats with flair; chicken, onion and capsicum kebabs, next to prawns on ice, next to marinated hunks of steak, next to spare ribs, next to chicken wings, legs and thighs. It’s like the shop front window of a gourmet butcher.
Except we’re street side in temple town, Cambodia. The boy-chefs are in the white attire of the trade, tonging the customers’ orders over and along the flame and onto the plates, where salad leaves await, drizzled in thoughtful homemade dressing. A collection of bowls in front of the barbeque hold sauces for all tastes; fiery ones, rich ones, fruity ones and salty ones, all lined up like paint class at kindergarten.
They can be spooned into ramekins, taken to the table and applied to the meat.
Lining the wall around the adjacent building is the makeshift bar, bottles of spirits set up next to a little glass cabinet containing fruit for juicing and blending. But my antipodean upbringing steers me away from these options to the esky full of ice cold Angkor beer. Real barbeque drink.
The necessary elements of a good old-fashioned barbie, minus perhaps the backyard game of cricket, are available on the tourist trail in Cambodia. Plates loaded up with meat, salad, beer, sauce, all enjoyed on a sultry hot evening.
Appropriately named and inappropriately (dirt cheap!) priced.
Stickyrice
VISIT CAMBODIA WITH ASIANWAY TRAVEL
CAMBODIA IN DEPTH (7D-8N) – 740 USD
CAMBODIA HERITAGE (5D-4N) – 550 USD
CAMBODIA HIGHTLIGHT (4D – 3N) – 510 USD
