Somkiethisack Kingsada
Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lao PDR
The aim of this study has been to examine the role and influence of French culture through food, especially the baguette. This type of French food has become a unique characteristic of food culture in the lower Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries, namely, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, which formerly constituted French Indochina. The main field-research areas were Vientiane in Lao PDR, Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and Phnom Penh in Cambodia.
The research found that the baguette, or “khao chi” in Lao, originated in the 19th century and was introduced into the lower GMS countries by the French ruling elite and their servants under the colonial regime. The consumption of the baguette later spread to the middle-class people in the countryside following the end of French rule in 1954. Consisting of simple ingredients, together with a simple production process, khao chi was easily fused with the culinary traditions of the local populations, who, in adopting it, have adapted it to their traditional food. The baguette has thus become popular among people of all social classes and can be found on sale in various forms and sizes in both urban and rural areas. This study has contributed to an understanding of the nature and process of adopting French culture, the legacy of which is still present and has influenced the eating habits today, especially of the Lao people.
(Presented in the 2012 Asian Food Heritage Forum: Harmonizing Culture , Technology and Industry, 20-21 August 2012, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Chinese Dietary Culture Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Ministry of Culture, Thailand)