Alex Watts's Blog, page 11

Padstow Chef Scores Surprise Bestseller

A friend on holiday in Cornwall spotted this billboard poster about my book outside a newsagent in Porthcothan Bay...



Story in the Cornish Guardian - original article HERE ...



Alex's Fabulous Failure



A WRITER has told of his surprise after his book about his failure to make it as a chef stormed to the top of the Amazon Kindle pro-cooking best-seller chart.



Alex Watts' book Down And Out In Padstow And London is a humorous account of the years he spent training to be a chef, including stints at Heston Blumenthal's famous Fat Duck restaurant and Rick Stein's kitchens in Padstow.



The eBook version was an overnight success, sparking dozens of good reviews on Twitter, and is in the Top 40 of the Kindle Store's food and drink bestseller chart, above the likes of Delia and Nigella.



It is also the best-selling eBook in Amazon's professional cooking chart. Alex, 41, a journalist and sometime cook from Burnham, Bucks, said: "I've been really pleased with the success, especially as it's self-published and I've just had to rely on word of mouth.



"But it is ironic that a book detailing my disastrous attempt to train as a professional chef is now top of the Kindle cooking chart. There's a section on my failed audition for Masterchef, which I think helped a lot because so many people watched the last show."



The paperback version came out on Amazon last month, but Alex hadn't even seen a copy until his father Brian, 73, flew out to Cambodia, where Alex is writing his second book based on a cook's tour of south east Asia.



The book describes what happens behind the scenes of Michelin-starred restaurants and lesser establishments – and the extraordinary characters who inhabit them. It begins with Alex's decision to give up his job as a journalist, and a fateful meeting with Cornwall's Rick Stein.



**************************



Story in the Maidenhead Advertiser - original story HERE ...



Failed Chef's Book Tops The Charts



By Nicola Hine



A writer's account of his disastrous attempts to make it as a chef is proving to be a huge hit on Amazon's online book charts.



Journalist Alex Watts, of Lent Rise Road in Burnham, wrote Down And Out In Padstow And London as a humorous take on the years he spent training to be a professional cook.



Stints at Michelin-starred restaurants including Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck in Bray followed before, unable to keep up with the younger chefs, he gave up the dream and returned to the office.



So it was all the more ironic when his tales stormed to the top of Amazon's Kindle books professional cooking chart, where he remains within the top five.



The 41-year-old said: "I've been really pleased with the success, especially as it's self-published and I've just had to rely on word of mouth."



The book describes Alex's various experiences in the world of cooking, from 16-hour shifts in a gastropub to a failed audition for Masterchef. Anecdotes from his Fat Duck days include the painstaking process of peeling grapefruit segments.



A former Slough and Windsor Express reporter, Alex quit his job at Sky News aged 36 and trained as a chef for two years after a fateful meeting with Rick Stein.



:: Down And Out In Padstow And London is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

‘Sotheby’s Tried To Sell $3m Khmer Statue – And Knew It Was Stolen’

An article I wrote for Khmer 440 ...



The 1,000-year-old temple guardian was meant to “convey power over malicious demons, thereby offering comfort for devotees,” according to Sotheby’s sales blurb.



But it’s certainly not bringing any comfort to the world-famous auctioneers following allegations it put the statue up for sale despite knowing it had been stolen from a temple in the ancient Khmer capital of Koh Ker, some 120km north-east of Angkor Wat.



Yesterday, US federal agents announced they would seize the disputed artifact from Sotheby’s in New York and try to return it to its rightful home in Cambodia.



In their civil action, prosecutors say the sandstone sculpture, known as the Duryodhana, and valued at up to $3m, was looted “during periods of extreme unrest” in Cambodia in the 1960s or 1970s. They claim it was then illegally imported into Europe and then the US.



Continue reading ...



:: Down And Out In Padstow And London is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

Cambodia’s Big Role To Play In The South China Sea Conflict

A column I wrote for Khmer 440 ...



The last time a Chinese Head of State visited Cambodia was 12 years ago, so the timing of President Hu Jintao’s visit just four days before Cambodia chairs a major regional summit may be a coincidence.



But no doubt his arrival in Phnom Penh today will be viewed by some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an example of China’s growing assertiveness in a region that it’s long had one foot in.



The economic bloc – made up of Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will discuss a range of issues like climate change, disaster management, workers’ rights, agriculture, tourism, human trafficking, as well as plans for a drug-free zone to be set up across SE Asia within the next three years.



But the elephant in the room – the decades old dispute over who owns the South China Sea, or East Sea if you live in Vietnam – is unlikely to get much table time, with Cambodia already saying the issue will be off the agenda, and Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand also reluctant to get involved.



China’s claim – as can be seen in the highlighted area of the top picture – is by far the largest, covering most of the sea’s 1.7 million sq km, including the potentially oil and gas rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.



Continue reading ...



:: Down And Out In Padstow And London is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

To buy the paperback from Amazon seller Wattzbooks at a discounted price, CLICK HERE

Cambodia's Big Role To Play In The South China Sea Conflict

A column I wrote for Khmer 440 ...



The last time a Chinese Head of State visited Cambodia was 12 years ago, so the timing of President Hu Jintao's visit just four days before Cambodia chairs a major regional summit may be a coincidence.



But no doubt his arrival in Phnom Penh today will be viewed by some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as an example of China's growing assertiveness in a region that it's long had one foot in.



The economic bloc – made up of Cambodia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – will discuss a range of issues like climate change, disaster management, workers' rights, agriculture, tourism, human trafficking, as well as plans for a drug-free zone to be set up across SE Asia within the next three years.



But the elephant in the room – the decades old dispute over who owns the South China Sea, or East Sea if you live in Vietnam – is unlikely to get much table time, with Cambodia already saying the issue will be off the agenda, and Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand also reluctant to get involved.



China's claim – as can be seen in the highlighted area of the top picture – is by far the largest, covering most of the sea's 1.7 million sq km, including the potentially oil and gas rich Spratly and Paracel archipelagos.



Continue reading ...



:: Down And Out In Padstow And London is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

To buy the paperback from Amazon seller Wattzbooks at a discounted price, CLICK HERE

Down And Out In Padstow And London Becomes Cooking Best-Seller

Bit more press - story about my book in the Slough And Windsor Observer - original article HERE ...(please note, there is a space between 'pen' and 'is' in the headline.)



Pen is mightier than the kitchen



A FORMER chef who gave up his frying pan to write about his cooking failure saw his first book rise to the top of a best-selling chart.



Alex Watts' book 'Down and Out in Padstow and London', an insight into the unsuccessful years he spent training to be a chef, hit the top of the Amazon Kindle professional cooking best-seller chart.



The 41-year-old, from Burnham, had stints at celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal's famous Fat Duck restaurant and Rick Stein's kitchens in Cornwall - but failed to make the grade.



"It's ironic that a book detailing my disastrous attempt to train as a professional chef is now top of the professional cooking chart!" Mr Watts said.



"There's a section on my failed audition for Masterchef, which I think helped a lot because so many people watched the last show.



"I've been really pleased with the success, especially as it's self-published and I've just had to rely on word of mouth."



The eBook version is also in the top 40 of the Kindle Store's food and drink best-seller chart - above the work of TV chefs Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson.



The paperback version of the book came out last month but Mr Watts didn't get his hands on a copy until father Brian, 73, flew out to Cambodia, where Mr Watts is penning his second book based on a cook's tour of South-East Asia.



He added: "When Dad arrived in Phnom Penh with a couple of copies, it was a very strange and proud moment to see it finally in print. I've been really pleased with the sales of the Kindle book, so hopefully the printed version may do as well.



"It's definitely a book aimed at armchair chefs and foodies who'd love to learn the trade first-hand from the professionals, braving the stress, 16-hour days, and low pay of kitchen life, but are far too sensible to do so."



MORE: Failed Chef's Book Becomes Kitchen Best-Seller



:: Down And Out In Padstow And London is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE

To buy the paperback from Amazon seller Wattzbooks at a discounted price, CLICK HERE

Samlor Ktis: A Cambodian Soup You’ve Got To Try

I got a message from a friend in England the other day who wanted me to get hold of a recipe for samlor ktis - a delicious Cambodian sour soup usually made from fish or chicken and flavoured with pineapple and coconut. A sort of soupy pina colada if you will. She had it when she visited Phnom Penh a few years ago, and missed the broth so much, she was desperate to make it at home.



It doesn’t appear on Khmer menus nearly as much as it should. But by chance they served it at the small cafe where I’ve been writing most days for the past few weeks. Considering the place is aimed squarely at expats, with its strange variations of fry-ups, horribly-sweet spag bols, schnitzels, cordon bleus, and mousakas, it was quite a coincidence they had something so traditionally Khmer on there.



The base is coconut water - an almost colourless liquid found in young, green coconuts . It’s vastly different to the thicker, richer coconut milk extracted from boiling coconut flesh in milk or water, that is widely used in Thai cooking .



If you can’t get hold of coconut water, then heat 500ml of water in a pan, and when it’s bubbling, add one tablespoon of coconut cream powder. Or you can use the same amount of grated creamed coconut (concentrated coconut cream sold in blocks). It should be a pale white liquid, and taste slightly of coconut.



Like many Asian soups , samlor ktis is very quick and easy to make - the sort of lunch you can knock up in ten minutes or so from scratch. It’s amazing the fresh, clean flavour achieved from just a handful of ingredients.





The main seasoning is kroeung (pic above) - a mild curry paste made by pounding lemon grass, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, fingerroot (Chinese ginger), a little red chilli, and sometimes other herbs and spices. If you can’t find it in your local Asian store, you can use Thai yellow curry paste. But don’t go over the top - it’s supposed to be a very delicately flavoured soup rather than the usual fiery, coconut-heavy concoctions you find in Thailand.



If you want to make it yourself, then just peel and dice three thumb-sized pieces of galangal and put them in a pestle and mortar. Add three finely chopped lemon grass stalks, three finely sliced kaffir lime leaves, one piece of peeled and chopped fingerroot if you can get it, and one peeled and chopped thumb-sized piece of fresh turmeric, or two teaspoons of ground turmeric. I always add three chopped garlic cloves, three deseeded red chillies, and half a teaspoon of salt. You pound the mixture for five minutes until you’ve got a moist yellow paste, which freezes well and will keep in the fridge for a week or so.



Raksmei, the cook at the restaurant, started by hacking open a large, green coconut with a machete and pouring about 500ml of its juice into a saucepan. She then peeled and removed the eyes from a chunk of fresh pineapple, and cut it into thin chips. She then diced a small piece of barracuda fillet.





When the coconut water was bubbling, she added two level teaspoons of kroeung paste and stirred the broth for a minute until the paste was dissolved.





She then added the fish, stirred again, and added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar.





She turned the gas down and simmered it for a minute and then added the pineapple, before simmering it for another two minutes.





When the soup was ready, she checked the seasoning and added a couple more pinches of salt and sugar. It was a delicious, delicate soup. The slight oily sweetness from the fish was cut by the sharp flavour from the pineapple, which still had a good crunch when I bit into it. There was a gentle hint of spice from the curry paste, and its tiny flecks of red chilli left little more than a tingle on the tongue.



I’ve seen it made with tomato as well, which takes it closer to the many Vietnamese-style soups you get in Cambodia. They get their sourness from tamarind juice, tomato and pineapple, and are normally flavoured with fish sauce, pepper, shallots, lemon grass blades, and red chilli peppers, and are often topped with chopped mint leaves and spring onion greens.





Raksmei served the soup with a little bowl of rice. She said her barang customers usually eat it with a baguette, but she’d run out of bread. It was a lovely way to eat barracuda, and would work well with any meaty sea fish like pollack or coley.



It made me feel light and healthy afterwards. It even took my mind from my cigarette cravings for a while as I waited for my latest 25mg, step one nicotine patch to work - something not helped by the fact I can buy seven packets of fags for the price of one, very-hard-to-find patch out here.



I’d read somewhere that soup is so important to the Cambodian diet that women often greet each with the phrase: “What soup will you cook today?” I’ve never heard them say it, but this is certainly as good a soup to cook as any.



MORE: Cambodian Food: The Chef Hailed As A Genius By Raymond Blanc



:: My new book Down And Out In Padstow And London about my disastrous attempt to train as a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE To buy the paperback from Amazon seller Wattzbooks at a discounted price, CLICK HERE



MORE: Failed Chef's Book Becomes Kitchen Best-Seller

Samlor Ktis: A Cambodian Soup You've Got To Try

I got a message from a friend in England the other day who wanted me to get hold of a recipe for samlor ktis - a delicious Cambodian sour soup usually made from fish or chicken and flavoured with pineapple and coconut. A sort of soupy pina colada if you will. She had it when she visited Phnom Penh a few years ago, and missed the broth so much, she was desperate to make it at home.



It doesn't appear on Khmer menus nearly as much as it should. But by chance they served it at the small cafe where I've been writing most days for the past few weeks. Considering the place is aimed squarely at expats, with its strange variations of fry-ups, horribly-sweet spag bols, schnitzels, cordon bleus, and mousakas, it was quite a coincidence they had something so traditionally Khmer on there.



The base is coconut water - an almost colourless liquid found in young, green coconuts . It's vastly different to the thicker, richer coconut milk extracted from boiling coconut flesh in milk or water, and widely used in Thai cooking .



If you can't get hold of coconut water, then heat 500ml of water in a pan, and when it's bubbling, add one tablespoon of coconut cream powder. Or you can use the same amount of grated creamed coconut (concentrated coconut cream sold in blocks), but sieve it afterwards. It should be a pale white liquid, and taste slightly of coconut.



Like many Asian soups , samlor ktis is very quick and easy to make - the sort of lunch you can knock up in ten minutes or so from scratch. It's amazing the fresh, clean flavour achieved from just a handful of ingredients.





The main seasoning is kroeung (pic above) - a mild curry paste made by pounding lemon grass, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, fingerroot (Chinese ginger), a little red chilli, and sometimes other herbs and spices. If you can't find it in your local Asian store, you can use Thai yellow curry paste. But don't go over the top - it's supposed to be a very delicately flavoured soup rather than the usual fiery, coconut-heavy concoctions you find in Thailand.



If you want to make it yourself, then just peel and dice three thumb-sized pieces of galangal and put them in a pestle and mortar. Add three finely chopped lemon grass stalks, three finely sliced kaffir lime leaves, one piece of peeled and chopped fingerroot if you can get it, and one peeled and chopped thumb-sized piece of fresh turmeric, or two teaspoons of ground turmeric. I always add three chopped garlic cloves, three deseeded red chillies, and half a teaspoon of salt. You pound the mixture for five minutes until you've got a moist yellow paste, which freezes well and will keep in the fridge for a week or so.



Raksmei, the cook at the restaurant, started by hacking open a large, green coconut with a machete and pouring about 500ml of its juice into a saucepan. She then peeled and removed the eyes from a chunk of fresh pineapple, and cut it into thin chips. She then diced a small piece of barracuda fillet.





When the coconut water was bubbling, she added two level teaspoons of kroeung paste and stirred the broth for a minute until the paste was dissolved.





She then added the fish, stirred again, and added a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar.





She turned the gas down and simmered it for a minute and then added the pineapple, before simmering it for another two minutes.





When the soup was ready, she checked the seasoning and added a couple more pinches of salt and sugar. It was a delicious, delicate soup. The slight, oily sweetness from the fish was cut by the sharp flavour from the pineapple, which still had a good crunch when I bit into it. There was a gentle hint of spice from the curry paste, and its tiny flecks of red chilli left little more than a tingle on the tongue.



I've seen it made with tomato as well, which takes it closer to the many Vietnamese-style soups you get in Cambodia. They get their sourness from tamarind juice, tomato and pineapple, and are normally flavoured with fish sauce, pepper, shallots, lemon grass blades, and red chilli peppers, and are often topped with chopped mint leaves and spring onion greens.





Raksmei served the soup with a little bowl of rice. She said her barang customers usually eat it with a baguette, but she'd run out of bread. It was a lovely way to eat barracuda, and would work well with any meaty sea fish like pollack or coley.



It made me feel light and healthy afterwards. It even took my mind from my cigarette cravings for a while as I waited for my latest 25mg, step one nicotine patch to work - something not helped by the fact I can buy seven packets of fags for the price of one, very-hard-to-find patch out here.



Apparently, I'd read somewhere that soup is so important to the Cambodian diet that women often greet each with the phrase: "What soup will you cook today?" I've never heard them say it, but this is certainly as good a soup to make as any.



MORE: Cambodian Food: The Chef Hailed As A Genius By Raymond Blanc



My new book Down And Out In Padstow And London about my disastrous attempt to train as a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE To buy the paperback from Amazon seller Wattzbooks at a discounted price, CLICK HERE



MORE: Failed Chef's Book Becomes Kitchen Best-Seller

Failed Chef's Book Becomes Kitchen Best-Seller

Bit of press - story about my book in The Cornish Guardian. Original article HERE ...



Surprise Bestseller Features Alex's Stint As Padstow Chef



PADSTOW'S most famous kitchens have a starring role in a surprise bestseller which has stormed to the top of the online cookbook charts.



Rick Stein's restaurant and café feature in a new book by a journalist who jacks in the day job to try to make it as a chef.



His experiences, which ended in failure, led Alex Watts to write Down And Out In Padstow And London.



The humorous account recounts the years he spent training to be a chef, including stints at Heston Blumenthal's famous Fat Duck restaurant and Rick Stein's establishments in Cornwall.



The eBook version has become an overnight success, sparking dozens of good reviews on Twitter.



It is also the bestselling eBook in Amazon's professional cooking chart and is in the Top 40 of the Amazon Kindle Store's food and drink bestseller chart, above the likes of Delia Smith and Nigella Lawson.



Alex, 41, a journalist and sometime cook from Burnham in Buckinghamshire, said: "I've been really pleased with the success, especially as it's self-published and I've just had to rely on word of mouth.



"But it is ironic that a book detailing my disastrous attempt to train as a professional chef is now top of the Kindle professional cooking chart. There's a section on my failed audition for Masterchef, which I think helped a lot because so many people watched the last show."



The paperback version of the book came out on Amazon last month, but Alex hadn't even seen a copy until his father Brian, 73, flew out to Cambodia, where Alex is writing his second book, based on a cook's tour of South East Asia.



"When dad arrived in Phnom Penh with a couple of copies, it was a very strange and proud moment to see it finally in print," said Alex.



"I've been really pleased with the sales of the Kindle book, so hopefully the printed version may do as well.



"It's definitely a book aimed at armchair chefs and foodies who'd love to learn the trade first-hand from the professionals, braving the stress, 16-hour days, and low pay of kitchen life, but are far too sensible to do so ... ."



The book describes what really happens behind the scenes of both Michelin-starred restaurants and lesser establishments – and the extraordinary, larger-than-life characters who inhabit them.



It begins with Alex's decision to give up his job as a journalist, and a fateful meeting with TV cook Rick Stein, when the cheffing door is opened.



There follow stints in the kitchens at Padstow, work as a commis chef under a crazed former football hooligan, 16-hour shifts as a kitchen slave in a gastropub, and the rigours of the Fat Duck.



Unable to keep up with the younger chefs around him, he gives up the dream and returns to office life, only to find he can't forget about the experience and puts pen to paper.



MORE: Being Wined And Steined In Padstow



My new book on training to be a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE



"Reading this book is a serious test for any food writer. Not only has Alex Watts done what all of us say we would like to do, tested his mettle in a professional kitchen, he also writes about his experiences so well that you spend as much time being jealous of his writing skills as you do of his experiences. It's an annoyingly enjoyable read." - Simon Majumdar



Twitter Reviews:



"A rattling good read." - @chrispople



"It's a fab read. The Fat Duck chapters are class." - @Mcmoop



"If you claim to be a foodie you MUST buy this book." - @CorkGourmetGuy



"Bought your book and am hugely enjoying. Funny, engaging, interesting, lively." - @oliverthring



"A great read about the reality of working at The Fat Duck & other less famed restaurants." - @alanbertram



"Very funny, very close to the bone." - @AmeliaHanslow



"A great read and must have book for anyone in the industry." - @philwhite101



"Thoroughly enjoyed it." - @rosechadderton



"Excellent!" - @MissCay



"Just finished your book, and loved it! Thanks for ending on a happy note; it needed it after all the reality ;-)" - @voorschot



"Fab account of psycho chefs, plus work experience with Heston and Stein." - @Laurajanekemp



"Excellent read & loved the 'scary duck' tale! I look forward to the follow up book (no pressure ;D). Great memories of first being addressed as chef." - @granthawthorne



"Sensational account of a chef's life, couldn't put it down. Get it from Amazon now!" - @Fishermansarms



"I'm loving your book. Very enjoyable. Some great one-liners. "His legs wobbled like a crab on stilts" had me chuckling." - @griptonfactor



"Highly recommended. A great book about changing careers for his love of cooking." @Whatsinmymouth



"Downloaded the book last Sunday and finished it the same day! Great read." - @MTomkinsonChef



"Very funny." - @SkyRuth



"Any of you who have flirted with chefdom, go and immediately download this book from Amazon - Down and Out in Padstow and London. Great read." - @el_duder



"Truly brilliant." - @kcassowary



"Just rattled through Down And Out in Padstow and London by Alex Watts in no time at all, what a great book." - @leejamesburns



"It's brilliant, a fine piece of work. If you've ever wanted to peer into a professional kitchen I can't recommend it highly enough." - @acidadam



"Fantastic read - the English Kitchen Confidential!" - @cabbagemechanic



"A great eBook to buy about serving your time (literally!) as a trainee chef." - @OkBayBach



"Great read." - @rankamateur



"Don't start reading it if you have things to do:)" - @NorthernSnippet



"Great book...couldn't put it down, read it non-stop on a train and finished it in one day." - @chunkymunki



"Jolly good read, feel free to do one more." - @esbens



There are also 12 reviews on its Amazon page .

Taking Cambodia's Banned Street Food To The UK

An article I wrote for the British Street Food Awards 2012 ...



At the British Street Food Awards, we like to think that we know our business. Check out our knowledge of world street food HERE. But we don't know everything. Alex Watts does. The travelling journalist, and sometime chef, writes the food blog CHEF SANDWICH – and we're huge fans. So when he offered to write us an atmospheric piece about a side to world street food we hadn't seen first hand, we jumped at the chance.



WALK DOWN any road in Cambodia, and you'll see street food – sometimes an ingenious bicycle-driven cart hooked up to a car battery, sometimes a stall with a few plastic chairs to perch on.



There are old women pushing barrows of freshwater clams that are slowly 'cooked' on a metal tray in the morning sun for an hour or two, baguette stalls (a hangover from French imperialists) serving Cambodia's version of the banh mi, and sometimes hawkers flogging local delicacies like fried tarantula, bugs, snakes and duck foetuses .



But the most memorable – and easily the best for my money – has to be the spit-roast cows (koo dut) you see being slowly cooked in the street next to crowds of tooting mopeds. The hunks of grilled veal are always served the same way, with a tray of crudités, salt, pepper and lime dip, and Cambodia's fermented fish 'cheese' prahok .



I'm so impressed with the dish, I've been toying with the idea of setting up a 'koo dut' street food stall when I get back to the UK. I'm not sure how it would take off, and I know I'll have more chance of getting hold of a Dodo egg in Blighty than prahok. But I reckon hunks of spit-roast calf would go down well on an English common with the sound of leather on willow and the chink of warm beer glasses.



In readiness, I've worked on a couple of koo dut stalls to watch how they do it – starting the day by butchering and washing the carcass, and then filling the belly with lemon grass, lime leaves and rice paddy herbs before sewing up the cavity. And then constantly feeding the coals as the beast slowly spit-roasts for hours.





Of course, I know I'll be facing far more stringent street food regulations in the UK, and will have to fill out forms giving details of everything from my inside leg measurement to the name of the calf before the council offers me a pitch. But there's one ludicrous law that recently came in over here that I won't have to worry about.



The Cambodian government, in its wisdom, has banned restaurants and stalls from spit-roasting cows in public – over claims they incite violence and are bad for the image of Cambodia. It follows a meeting by the Supreme Council of the Mohanikaya Buddhist order, which decided the sight of roasting carcasses glorifies the killing of animals.



Other officials cited hygiene concerns about cooking in the street, which is ridiculous when you see the state of many indoor kitchens here, and the dozens of busy food stalls perched on every corner.



I'm delighted to say that so far the ban has been widely ignored with barbecued cows still on display in the capital Phnom Penh and in the tourist hub of Siem Reap.



But however much it is against Buddhist sensibilities, I think it's a shame if the government does enforce the ban. It would undoubtedly lead to a lot of restaurants and stalls closing, and a lot of families being plunged on to the bread line.



The government should be showcasing these dishes, and promoting the country's badly-marketed cuisine, rather than ordering them to be swept off the streets. Perhaps if there is a major crackdown, a koo dut stall in England wouldn't be such a bad idea after all…



UPDATE: Sadly, the Cambodian government got tough with restaurants flouting the ban, and threatened to close them down. Now you won't see a spit-roast calf on display anywhere in Cambodia (they're being cooked in kitchens and yards at the back). The only koo dut advertising allowed is on beer signs like the one below. Mmmm beer. Now that never causes violence does it.





MORE: Ten Days In Cambodia: Street Food, Spit Roasts And Freshly Boiled Crabs



My new book on training to be a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE



"Reading this book is a serious test for any food writer. Not only has Alex Watts done what all of us say we would like to do, tested his mettle in a professional kitchen, he also writes about his experiences so well that you spend as much time being jealous of his writing skills as you do of his experiences. It's an annoyingly enjoyable read." - Simon Majumdar



Twitter Reviews:



"A rattling good read." - @chrispople



"It's a fab read. The Fat Duck chapters are class." - @Mcmoop



"If you claim to be a foodie you MUST buy this book." - @CorkGourmetGuy



"Bought your book and am hugely enjoying. Funny, engaging, interesting, lively." - @oliverthring



"A great read about the reality of working at The Fat Duck & other less famed restaurants." - @alanbertram



"Very funny, very close to the bone." - @AmeliaHanslow



"A great read and must have book for anyone in the industry." - @philwhite101



"Thoroughly enjoyed it." - @rosechadderton



"Excellent!" - @MissCay



"Just finished your book, and loved it! Thanks for ending on a happy note; it needed it after all the reality ;-)" - @voorschot



"Fab account of psycho chefs, plus work experience with Heston and Stein." - @Laurajanekemp



"Excellent read & loved the 'scary duck' tale! I look forward to the follow up book (no pressure ;D). Great memories of first being addressed as chef." - @granthawthorne



"Sensational account of a chef's life, couldn't put it down. Get it from Amazon now!" - @Fishermansarms



"I'm loving your book. Very enjoyable. Some great one-liners. "His legs wobbled like a crab on stilts" had me chuckling." - @griptonfactor



"Highly recommended. A great book about changing careers for his love of cooking." @Whatsinmymouth



"Downloaded the book last Sunday and finished it the same day! Great read." - @MTomkinsonChef



"Very funny." - @SkyRuth



"Any of you who have flirted with chefdom, go and immediately download this book from Amazon - Down and Out in Padstow and London. Great read." - @el_duder



"Truly brilliant." - @kcassowary



"Just rattled through Down And Out in Padstow and London by Alex Watts in no time at all, what a great book." - @leejamesburns



"It's brilliant, a fine piece of work. If you've ever wanted to peer into a professional kitchen I can't recommend it highly enough." - @acidadam



"Fantastic read - the English Kitchen Confidential!" - @cabbagemechanic



"A great eBook to buy about serving your time (literally!) as a trainee chef." - @OkBayBach



"Great read." - @rankamateur



"Don't start reading it if you have things to do:)" - @NorthernSnippet



"Great book...couldn't put it down, read it non-stop on a train and finished it in one day." - @chunkymunki



"Jolly good read, feel free to do one more." - @esbens



There are also 12 reviews on its Amazon page .

The Factory Shooting Farce & Why Cambodia Needs An Aung San Suu Kyi

A column I wrote for Khmer 440 ...



I read an interesting interview at the weekend with a Khmer academic living in America who warns that Cambodia desperately needs an Aung San Suu Kyi or Nelson Mandela figure to protect the rights of its down-trodden people.



The country is not just being let down by what he calls "Class Z" leaders who rule the Kingdom largely unopposed, but also by the weakness of its opposition figures, says Naranhkiri Tith, a former professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who fled to the US in the 1960s.



"Where on Earth can a country like that survive?" he told Voice Of America Khmer. "Cambodians need the quality of Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who have great moral strength" to fight for freedom, human rights, and protect the land and its people, he added.



Critics say many of the problems in the country are the result of a failed court system and a government where the power is concentrated into the hands of one person rather than the state.



There are few better examples than the continued foot-dragging over the arrest of former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith – a scandal that has become a major embarrassment for Cambodia...



Continue reading ...



My new book on training to be a chef, including stints at Rick Stein's and the Fat Duck, is available as a paperback and eBook on Amazon CLICK HERE



"Reading this book is a serious test for any food writer. Not only has Alex Watts done what all of us say we would like to do, tested his mettle in a professional kitchen, he also writes about his experiences so well that you spend as much time being jealous of his writing skills as you do of his experiences. It's an annoyingly enjoyable read." - Simon Majumdar



Twitter Reviews:



"A rattling good read." - @chrispople



"It's a fab read. The Fat Duck chapters are class." - @Mcmoop



"If you claim to be a foodie you MUST buy this book." - @CorkGourmetGuy



"Bought your book and am hugely enjoying. Funny, engaging, interesting, lively." - @oliverthring



"A great read about the reality of working at The Fat Duck & other less famed restaurants." - @alanbertram



"Very funny, very close to the bone." - @AmeliaHanslow



"A great read and must have book for anyone in the industry." - @philwhite101



"Thoroughly enjoyed it." - @rosechadderton



"Excellent!" - @MissCay



"Just finished your book, and loved it! Thanks for ending on a happy note; it needed it after all the reality ;-)" - @voorschot



"Fab account of psycho chefs, plus work experience with Heston and Stein." - @Laurajanekemp



"Excellent read & loved the 'scary duck' tale! I look forward to the follow up book (no pressure ;D). Great memories of first being addressed as chef." - @granthawthorne



"Sensational account of a chef's life, couldn't put it down. Get it from Amazon now!" - @Fishermansarms



"I'm loving your book. Very enjoyable. Some great one-liners. "His legs wobbled like a crab on stilts" had me chuckling." - @griptonfactor



"Highly recommended. A great book about changing careers for his love of cooking." @Whatsinmymouth



"Downloaded the book last Sunday and finished it the same day! Great read." - @MTomkinsonChef



"Very funny." - @SkyRuth



"Any of you who have flirted with chefdom, go and immediately download this book from Amazon - Down and Out in Padstow and London. Great read." - @el_duder



"Truly brilliant." - @kcassowary



"Just rattled through Down And Out in Padstow and London by Alex Watts in no time at all, what a great book." - @leejamesburns



"It's brilliant, a fine piece of work. If you've ever wanted to peer into a professional kitchen I can't recommend it highly enough." - @acidadam



"Fantastic read - the English Kitchen Confidential!" - @cabbagemechanic



"A great eBook to buy about serving your time (literally!) as a trainee chef." - @OkBayBach



"Great read." - @rankamateur



"Don't start reading it if you have things to do:)" - @NorthernSnippet



"Great book...couldn't put it down, read it non-stop on a train and finished it in one day." - @chunkymunki



"Jolly good read, feel free to do one more." - @esbens



There are also 12 reviews on its Amazon page .