Publisher details

Author: Luke Nguyen
Publisher: Murdoch Books
Genre: Cookbook
Released: 01 October, 2009
ISBN: 9781741964653

The Songs of Sapa

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Synopsis

Travelling on a personal and culinary tour, Luke visits his family and friends, and is invited into the homes of local Vietnamese food experts and cooks, to learn more about one of the richest, most diverse cuisines in the world.Starting in the northwest of Vietnam, in the villages and hills around Sapa, Luke explores the roots of traditional cooking. Moving south, he travels to the capital, Hanoi, renowned for its French-Vietnamese cuisine. He explores the imperial cooking of Hue, discovers the famed cau lau noodles in Hoi An, and tastes a host of simple seafood dishes of coastal Nha Trang and Quy Nhon, his journey culminating in Saigon, where he is reunited with family.The Songs of Sapa is a vibrant, visual essay of Luke's journey, the stories and recipes from each region, with stunning photographs bursting with colour and texture, capturing the beauty of Vietnam, her people and their deep connection to food.

About the author

Luke Nguyen

Luke Nguyen is a renowned Vietnamese Australian chef, best known for his television series Luke Nguyen's Vietnam, which this book ties into, and more recently his new series Luke Nguyen's Greater Mekong.Born in a Thai refugee camp after his parents escaped their homeland in Vietnam, Luke's family eventually made their way to Australia where Luke was raised in Sydney's vibrant and storied Vietnamese quarter. His parents opened and ran a local Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Cay Du and it was this familial passion for food that first ignited Luke's interest in Vietnamese cooking. After learning the basics from his parents, Luke trained with a number of respected Sydney chefs before opening The Red Lantern restaurant with his sister, Pauline. Since then, The Red Lantern has become one of Sydney's most acclaimed restaurants, winning Best Vietnamese Restaurant in 2009.Luke has written four previous cookbooks: Secrets of the Red Lantern, Songs of Sapa, Indochine and Greater Mekong. Luke currently divides his time between his home in Sydney and Vietnam, where he is the host of Masterchef Vietnam.