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Khmer royal cuisine or Cambodian royal cuisine (Khmer: ម្ហូបព្រះបរមរាជវាំង Mahob Preah Barom Reacheaveang lit. 'Royal palace cuisine' or simply ម្ហូបវាំង Mahob Veang lit. 'Palace cuisine') is one of the three types of Khmer cuisine, the other two being elite and rural cuisine.[1] Khmer royal cuisine has evolved over the centuries with influences from India, China, Thailand, Vietnam and France.[2]
The distinctions between the three culinary styles are not as pronounced as in the case of Thailand or Laos,[3] and the main characteristics that set Khmer royal cuisine apart from the other two culinary styles are the higher quality ingredients and more elaborate cooking techniques.[4][page needed] There has never been a special corpus of Khmer royal cuisine with specific codes, ingredients and decorum like in the case of Japanese yūsoku ryōri or Thai chaowang.[5]
But which cuisine does the Princess' collection of Cambodian recipes reflect? Some authors have suggested this culinary repertoire was at the core of the meals for kings, queens, princes and princesses of Cambodia, hence presenting some sort of Khmer Royal Cuisine. While some special treats nowadays frowned upon such as tortoise meat were in true served at the Cambodian Royal court in the days of yore, there never has existed here a corpus of 'Royal Cuisine' with its specific codes, ingredients and decorum in the way Japan had developed the yusoku ryori (imperial court cuisine) from the 9th century, or the Thai monarchs expected to be served Chaowang dishes, the Royal cuisine developed since the 14th century at the court of Ayutthaya kings, with recipes kept secret and commoners strictly forbidden from cooking or enjoying it.