France was ruler of Cambodia from 1863 to 1953. During that time, the country formed part of French Indochina, a territory that also included present-day Vietnam and Laos.
That 90-year period left the country with a decidedly French aspect to much of its public architecture and finer houses, while also establishing a culinary tradition that managed to survive even the ravages of the Khmer Rouge.
‘Under Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge leader, anything foreign was basically illegal,’ recalls Thich. ‘So it became really dangerous to eat anything French. Rice was what Cambodians ate, the Khmer Rouge dictated, not bread.’
Not that there was much rice to eat either, as while the Khmer Rouge ran the country, from 1975 to 1979, the population suffered mass starvation.
Nowadays, Cambodia has moved on a long way. As evidence, the Franco-Cambodian culinary crossover has also been reasserted, as has Phnom Penh’s French restaurant scene.
‘When I first came here,’ says François Lievens, who arrived in Phnom Penh from his home near Paris back in 1993 and set up one of the city’s best French restaurants, Comme à la Maison, ‘we flew in over the sea to avoid anti-aircraft fire from the mountains. There was no regular water or electricity in the city then, but there was a huge amount of goodwill.’
From these beginnings Phnom Penh has grown phenomenally, as has its culinary culture.
‘The Cambodian baguette is very similar to the French,’ says François’ wife, Cristina. ‘The only differences are the Cambodian is a bit smaller and they don’t add salt.’
For the authentic baguette, comme à la France, the restaurant has its own bakery, where Cambodian customers are also regulars. ‘There are a number of very good French restaurants here,’ says François, ‘as well as a number of gastronomes’.
Among them are Topaz and La Résidence, the first in business since the mid-1990s and the second since 2008. There are also French bakeries, such as L’Ami du Pain, and La Gourmandise Bleue Patissier Chocolatier. ‘Of course, many Cambodians lived in France, with the older ones remembering the cuisine from there,’ says Cristina.
This has given rise to some fusion dishes, yet, by and large, the cuisine at Phnom Penh’s French restaurants remains steadfastly Gallic. ‘Some of our petit fours are fusion,’ Says Cristina, ‘such as our Asian spring rolls à la française’, but when it comes to à la carte, we are strictly French only, even if dishes are made with local ingredients. Most of our customers come here because they are tired of rice and noodles. If they ask for a full breakfast, there must be croissants.’
If this has whetted your appetite for more of Cambodia’s French inheritance, there is plenty of a non-culinary nature to indulge in, too. The capital has a number of colonial buildings, mainly around Wat Thom in the north of the city. There you’ll find the early 20th-century National Library and Post Office, along with a number of villas that seem transported, shutters and all, from a boulevard in Marseilles.
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