LAO CHOW

I can't speak to the French colonization of Laos during the early 20th century, but they sure left behind some stellar bakeries. Everywhere we turned in Vientiane and Luang Prabang, boulangerie counters were piled high with crusty baguettes, buttery croissants, and flaky pains au chocolat. Traveling from the bread barrens of South Korea (think red bean doughnuts and sugar-coated garlic rolls), I thought I'd landed in a sort of starchy Shangri-La.

But in addition to each perfect bite of pastry, I encountered a strong case for Laos' own cuisine at an innovative Luang Prabang restaurant called Tamarind. We spent a morning wandering the town's vegetable and meat market with Tamarind staff, examining everything from galangal (the gnarly root, which is a relative of ginger) and kaffir lime to shallots and lemongrass. After purchasing a bounty of produce, we returned to the restaurant's cooking school to prepare traditional dishes like roasted eggplant dip and spicy fish steamed in banana leaves.

Chicken feet, fortunately, were not on the menu...but have you ever seen such shapely-looking legs on poultry?