fcc christmas dinner

From Christmas in Cambodia

Fruity cocktails. Necessary for Christmas.

A big group of us had Christmas lunch at the Foreign Correspondent's Club. Every tourist in Phnom Penh goes to the FCC in the hope of catching a glimpse of a sexy and danger-loving "journalist." They will almost always be disappointed because 1. journalists are poor and 2. the FCC is expensive and 3. you get the picture. Journalists prefer dive bars where a gin and tonic can be obtained for two bucks and there's a laptop in the back with music and preferably, a pool table. That's what journalists like.

The FCC is all jewel toned and classy and has a menu with an emphasis on tapas and wood-fired pizzas. It's basically like being in Northern California if you make an effort to avoid looking out the windows. It's usually full of diplomat and senior NGO types who can actually afford to eat here, and middle aged tourists doing the "where's the journalists at?" glance-around with little actual success. The food is good. And expensive. But good. They did have a set menu for Christmas, and the food was quite good. A rundown.....

From Christmas in Cambodia

Croquettes with brie. These were high end cheese sticks involving lots of mashed potato. A worthy effort in a country with a low cheese-to-expat ratio. Still, a cheese stick, dressed up as it may be, is a cheese stick and reminds me mostly of being 18 years old and incredibly drunk in the Berkshires of Massachusetts at 4:00 in the morning. And truckstops. Less so fine dining. But, hey, there's Brie in it.

From Christmas in Cambodia

A very nice salmon salad 'ala mode' though I couldn't quite work out that what meant. Salmon is a bit hard to come by in Cambodia, and this salad with avocado, dill, celery, and a bit of sour-cream was lovely when eaten on crunchy toast points. Fresh and crispy is good news on an 85 degree Christmas day.

From Christmas in Cambodia

The main attraction was a choice of suckling pig or turkey with stuffing, mashed potato, roast potato (so much potato), gravy, and vegetables. I think the suckling pig was the way to go. Nice and crispy skin, still flavorful inside. A little bit too much fat, if there's such a thing as too much pork fat. The herb stuffing was pretty good, as were the potatoes. They forgot a friend of mine's stuffing and he was about to go back in the kitchen and wage war upon them, but they brought it out and crisis was just alleviated, in the nick of time. You don't come between Americans and stuffing on Christmas day, friends. You just don't.

From Christmas in Cambodia

This fruit crumble dessert was truly good. Apple and pear with a nice light crust, a bit of vanilla ice cream, and a delicate raspberry sauce. Not too heavy, fresh and hot, a good buttery crust. Not so heavy as to knock you on your ass post-suckling pig. The FCC may have a way with desserts. I will investigate further.

A good Christmas effort that put us all in incredible food comas by around 3:30 PM. I had these plans of taking photos around town and instead came straight home, passed out on my bed, and woke up around two hours later with heartburn and a headache and a sense of love for mankind. Now if that isn't what Christmas is all about, I don't know what it is.

Happy Merry Christmas.