Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  Here we are at October #EattheWorld event. The year is flying by, especially as we, at least on California's central coast, are entering our twenty-ninth week of the shelter-in-place orders. That has meant lots and lots of time in the kitchen. But my family and I did just return from a much-needed trip to see Jake's family. We hadn't left the peninsula, much less our county, since March! So, I was grateful for a change of pace and scenery and we were still really cautious as we traveled and visited. This Eat the World project is spearheaded by Evelyne of  CulturEatz . Read more about  her challenge . This month, Evelyne had us heading to somewhere exotic: Laos. Here's the line-up of the #EattheWorld bloggers' Laotian creations... Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Khao Nom Kok (Lao Coconut Cakes) Pandemonium Noshery: Laotian Party Noodles - Kua Mee   Making Miracles: Lao Grilled Chicken   Sneha’s Recipe Sai Gog Khao Jee   Kitchen Frau: Ping Gai (Lao Grille...

When I saw the country reveal for our focus in my online #EattheWorld group - Laos - I immediately started researching and discovered that they have similar dishes to some of our other favorite cuisines such as Thailand and Vietnam. So, that evening I tested some recipes to compare and contrast. I shared what I had made and one of my best blogging pals - Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm - said that she was going to post pork larb for this event; I decided to share my version now and I'll save one of the other recipes for posting day on October 10th. Stay tuned... Pork Laab As I mentioned, the pork laab (also called larb, laap, larp, and lahb) is very similar to a Thai version that I usually make. You can read that recipe: Thai Larb for the Team, Flat Stanley, and Annoying Person Shifts #FoodieReads . Like other dishes in Southeast Asian cooking, the dish combines savory, spicy flavors with fresh ones. The Laotian version is even more simple to assemble than my Thai...

New year. New letter. Tonight we venture into the Ls of the world with some table top travel to Laos. Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia and nearly three-quarters of the country is covered in mountains and forested hills that are too steep to live on. Fast Facts Official Name: Lao People's Democratic Republic Form of Government: Communist Capital: Viangchan (local name); Vientiane Population: 6,677,534 Official Language: Lao Laos is one of the poorest nations on the planet. Although the Lao have few possessions beyond their food, their Buddhist beliefs help them to find happiness through a simple life. Most of the people live in small rural communities near the river. I chuckled when I read this: the Lao like the sport of rhinoceros-beetle wrestling. People bet on which beetle will stay standing the longest. If only I could wrangle something like that up tonight. The boys would get a kick out of it! I am not a big fan of fried any...