When you encounter the chef who runs the kitchens of Khéma Angkor, you are bound to meet a personality out of the ordinary. And the fact is that Sophal Tuon does not only seduce by the talents he displays in the kitchen. A meeting with this friendly and animated chef allows one to better understand the passion that has driven him from a very young age.
To the question ”What do you appreciate most in your job?” Sophal Tuon’s answer is not long in coming: ”Tasting as many things as possible! I like to eat,” he replies in a big burst of laughter, barely smothered by the mask he wears. Is this chef crazy? Not in the least: everyone knows that a good cook must also be a gourmet.
”More seriously,” he says, ”there are obviously many other things I appreciate about the job. Developing dishes, discovering new recipes, exchanging ideas with other chefs.
”And, above all, this feeling of feeling a bit like a doctor: taking care of people, identifying their tastes, establishing a feeling of comfort and winning the wager to make them happy. This is one of my greatest satisfactions,” he says.
The family farm as the only horizon
Although he had longed to practice this profession from an early age, Sophal was nevertheless destined to take over his parents’ farm in the Kampot countryside. As a child, he helped out with working in the fields, part of a family that had been through a lot of hardship. ”We were nine siblings, but only three of us survived. The others disappeared when they were still young and sick. ”Living conditions in the countryside at the end of the 1980s were extremely harsh. When I talk about this family farm, it was more like a piece of land, where we grew a few vegetables, as well as rice. In the middle of the plantations were lemongrass and galangal, two ingredients that are now among my favourites. Because of the flavours they give off, of course, but also because every time I use them in cooking, I can’t help but think back to my childhood.”
Birth of a vocation
It was a difficult childhood, marked by hard work.”To make ends meet, we often went out to collect wood in the forests. We would get up early in the morning, or rather at night, around 2 o’clock, and come back loaded with wood long after the end of the day. My mother used to make us snacks for the day, and these dishes, although very simple, were delicious!” he says. When he was about ten years old, the future chef discovered, through these snacks made with a mother’s love, the simple joy of culinary pleasure.
”The comfort and joy that these meals gave me made me want to take a closer look at how to make them. So I began to observe my mother and then, little by little, to participate in the preparation of the dishes. Nothing extremely varied, since our environment didn’t allow it: how do you prepare grilled fish, make prahok or cook vegetables? But it also taught me how to use natural ingredients from the garden. There were no cans or instant meals in our house! From then on, I knew without any doubt that I would not become a farmer, but a cook. I just had absolutely no idea how to do that!”
Trying the adventure in Siem Reap
How, indeed, can you break into the profession without speaking a word of English?
”Above all, I couldn’t rely on my rather limited culinary skills. I didn’t even know what an amok was,” confesses the chef with a brief laugh, quickly interrupted by a pensive silence.
”I had to leave the countryside first, because I wouldn’t have learned anything there. When I was 20, my brother and I decided to try our luck in Siem Reap. It was, at that time, the place where anything could happen. I immediately found a job in a hotel, Pavillon Indochine. Oh, not in the kitchen, but taking turns in several jobs, such as caretaker or gardener. Little by little I was able to learn English and put some money aside, even though most of my savings were sent to my mother. ”After a year’s hard work, the nest-egg, supplemented with the help of the caring big brother, was used to pay for studies at the Paul Dubrule School.
”Because I had never given up on my dream of becoming a cook. Everything changed for me from then on,”says Sophal.
Recipes for success
At the hotel school, Sophal learned English, became familiar with computers and used his talents as a cook. ”All this was new to me. The Cambodian teachers taught us traditional recipes, such as curry, lok lak and amok. These dishes are well known, but they are still quite complex to make, especially for me as a young beginner! As for the Western teachers, they revealed the secrets of lasagne, lamb Navarrin, beef stew… and pizza. In the middle of all these recipes, it was, by far, the pizza that I preferred at the time!”
Sophal’s career as a cook began at the Meridian Angkor, where he stayed for five years, first as a clerk and ending with the rank of demi-chef de partie. His talents were noticed, even internationally, and in 2010, he accepted without hesitation the offer of a position in Dubai.
”A certain financial comfort, encountering other gastronomic cultures, and an important position in the kitchen… These years were tremendously rewarding, even if the first months were particularly hard. The overwhelming heat, accents that I couldn’t understand, employees coming from all over the world”.
”However, little by little, I got used to it, and I managed to work in the best hotels in the region, from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. The cultural diversity, which was initially disadvantageous, finally proved to be a huge asset. Cooks from all over the world were eager to discover Cambodian gastronomy. And I was eager to discover cuisines from all over the world! We exchanged all our recipes. That’s how I learned the flavours of Indian cuisine, the nuances of Middle Eastern gastronomy, the diversity of Mediterranean dishes, not to mention the subtleties and infinite variety of Asian cuisines”.
A special place at Khéma
It is thus quite natural that this chef, curious about everything, found his place with Khéma. Since the opening of the first restaurant in Phnom Penh, in 2015, the brand has distinguished itself by the variety of its menu, where beef carpaccio is served alongside mango salad, Kuy Teav Phnom Penh, and the tartiflette. ”All these recipes are made with the same love and passion, whether it is couscous or Bai Sach Moan. Even if I have to admit I have a soft spot for our “Café de Paris” steak, as well as for salmon gravlax. Without forgetting the cheeses, including “Le Rousseau”, our newest creation, a creamy fresh 100% Cambodian cheese made from cow’s milk, of which we are very proud!” Is Chef Sophal a fine gastronome? Definitely yes!
”Questioning oneself constantly, learning continuously and never being satisfied with one’s comfort zone are precepts that suit me perfectly. That’s what makes it possible to offer new flavours, to find new combinations and to mix influences”. And what could be better than Khéma for that?
