pork grill. michel: all in banana leaves mama vaughn: banana leaves. mm. and then this is ginger sauce. eat the pork skin. anthony: pork skin, of course. and we have to have sticky rice. michel: yeah, sticky rice. mama vaughn: okay, bon appetit! anthony: food like this, uh, this is an imperial dish, a, a royal dish? mama vaughn: mmhm. anthony: have these disappeared, these recipes, or are they still here? they still are? mama vaughn: they re still here but you know, cause tony, it some time they do it not the way that sup not supposed to do it. they change ingredient a lot. my grandma teach me how to do this. anthony: now you were born here, yes? in luang prabang? mama vaughn: yes, in luang prabang. yeah, mmhm. anthony: and ah, michel, you michel: i was born in vientiane. mama vaughn: in vientiane. anthony: in ventiane? mama vaughn: yeah. anthony: have you lived here all your life? no, ah mama vaughn: in france. anthony: in france. michel:
the war. anthony: mama vaughns long time friend michel is a journalist, though what that means in a communist one party state like laos is necessarily different than what you and i might define it as. michel: when i was in paris, i studied ethnology. when i came here, they said, ethnology can wait. what we need it journalists. mama vaughn: journalist. that s why you get your job. michel: that s how i became a journalist. anthony: american involvement here remained a particularly painful and even taboo subject with the lao government. anthony: obama, the united states president, just came here to visit. what do you think it means for lao? michel: well, i think one important thing is the uxo, unexploded ordinances. anthony: right. michel: american b52s, they came on bombing missions in laos. everyday, everyday, everyday. and after bombing, they have to cross mekong back and forth and land. but they are not allowed to land with bombs on board. so they have bombs left, t
anthony: unexploded ordinance removal. i 90 million dollars. it s both sisters: 90 million, yeah, that s a lot. that s a lot. anthony: that s a lot of money? both sisters: help a lot. it s a lot of money. this one, the local snack. anthony: ah, chicken feet. good. older sister: and, ah, buffalo tendon. anthony: oh nice, good. yeah, i m gonna try that. older sister: and the dried squid? anthony: dried squid. older sister: mmm. anthony: ah, i love this, this is delicious. older sister: when we eat and there, we enjoy food. in lao, we say seplai. anthony: seplai. older sister: seplai. anthony: your hotel. mama vaughn: my hotel. anthony: how long has it been open? mama vaughn: well, it s been about twenty years. anthony: today, i m having lunch at the ban lao hotel, during the secret war it was the offices for u.s. foreign aide mission. the building was also a cover for cia headquarters. mama vaughn: that big building used to belong to usaid.
michel: at that time, we never know. antny: in those days, back in the 60s and 70s mama vaughn: 60, yeah. micl: yeah. anthony: usaid and cia had a lot of, let s say, overlap. anthony: mama vaughn, who i met here on my last trip is making lunch. an elaborate spread of dishes whose recipes are left over from imperial times. anthony: mm, so what do we have here? mama vaughn: this is lon song fish from mekong. we cook with shallots and garlic and chili, and coconut milk. and pork. anthony: crab? river crab? mama vaughn: crab. river crab, yeah. anthony: mm! mama vaughn: see? anthony: it s good. michel: mm-hm. mama vaughn: it s only in luang prabang anthony: you could eat the shell? mama vaughn: yes. anthony: mm. mama vaughn: and fish with pork grill. michel: all in banana leaves mama vaughn: banana leaves. mm. and then this is ginger sauce. eat the pork skin. anthony: pork skin, of course. and we have to have sticky rice. michel: yeah, stick
royal dish? mama vaughn: mmhm. anthony: have these disappeared, these recipes, or are they still here? they still are? mama vaughn: they re still here but you know, cause tony, it some time they do it not the way that sup not supposed to do it. they change ingredient a lot. my grandma teach me how to do this. anthony: now you were born here, yes? in luang prabang? mama vaughn: yes, in luang prabang. yeah, mmhm. anthony: and ah, michel, you michel: i was born in vientiane. mama vaughn: in vientiane. anthony: in ventiane? mama vaughn: yeah. anthony: have you lived here all your life? no, ah mama vaughn: in france. anthony: in france. michel: by the age of 11 i went to france to study. i came back in, in, in 1971. anthony: in difficult times, 1971. very, very difficult. michel: oh yeah, it was still the war. anthony: mama vaughns long time friend michel is a journalist, though what that means in a communist one party state like laos is necessarily