Treasures of Home

How wonderful it is to enjoy the simple treasures of home and our garden once again.

It is mango season and the mango trees in the garden are heavy with an abundance of fruit.

Mango trees have been cultivated in Cambodia for thousands of years. They are well-suited for the Cambodian soil and climate. They are very much a part of the daily diet here and are served in a variety of ways. As a fruit (fresh and dried), in salads, in deserts, as a sticky rice, in chutney and pickled. The leaves of certain mango trees are also used. Unripe mango (green mangoes) are also very popular and either eaten with a chili sugary salt or to make green mango salad. Cambodia grows about 20 different varieties of mangoes. As you know, mangoes are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and are associated with many health benefits.

We have two varieties in our garden. The bigger mangoes can be eaten unripe (green) and also once ripened but the smaller variety are much sweeter, lovely and juicy when ripe.

As the fruit on the top branches of the trees are out my reach, Vichot (Pappa) used a long pole with a small basket on the end to pick some mangoes for us.

One of these big, unripe , green mangoes is enough for me to make this lovely, fresh and aromatic salad using these simple ingredients (Oh I did end up adding some avocado oil and garnishing with crushed peanuts and sesame seeds).

We are also looking forward to enjoying the first season of lovely avocado’s that Vichot (Pappa) will be hand picking soon.

This story must be told.

One afternoon while relaxing by the pool, we noticed Vichot (Pappa) under the avocado trees spraying something and then walking from flower to flower, with another flower in his hand.

We watched in interest for a while but then had to ask what he was doing.

In broken English he replied, “I spray honey water to call bee. If bee not come, I make like bee. I go to the flower so the fruit grow”. Eventually we were able to understand that due to the lack of bees, he was pollinating the flowers on the avocado tree. AND it worked. We now have our first season of avocado’s. Thank you Pappa, you not just the “bees knees”, you are the bee!

Let’s get back to my treasures of home… For my morning tea, I picked a fresh pandan leaf and pulled out two fresh stalks of lemongrass. After washing and pounding them lightly, I boiled them in 1 litre of distilled water to make a fresh, fragrant tea.

Pandan is a tropical plant prized for its fragrant, pointy leaves and … well you all know lemongrass.

The leaves of the pandan plant are very fragrant and are used widely in Asian cuisine. The taste can be described as a grassy vanilla with a hint of coconut. Fortunately, pandan is easy to grow in a tropical climate. Boiling the leaves, to make a tea, is an excellent source of vitamins and antioxidants to help boost the immune system and prevent conditions like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

As I love this tea (warm and cold), Vichot has planted pandan and lemongrass in the garden, just in front of our newly build (and still vacant apartment).

As we are still in isolation, Tinnea has been bringing us fresh vegetables from the nearby market. These vegetables are grown locally and usually picked early in the morning and brought to the market to sell. (You cannot get fresher, more organic or cheaper than this). Even though these locals live hard lives on a meager income, they always surprise you with every bag of veggies you buy, with a few fresh chilies, kaffir lime leaves and spring onions.

These two $1 bags of fresh treasures have been chosen for a lovely aromatic chicken stir fry and a fragrant chicken red curry.

Another treasure of home is spending time outside by the pool. How wonderful it is to relax and watch the dance of these little spirits of life, who are also here to enjoy this lush, green, peaceful and tranquil garden.

If you have enjoyed reading our blog, we would love to hear from you. We always look forward to reading comments which you can please leave below.