At L’Oasi Italian restaurant in Siem Reap, CAmbodia, Titi makes cheese for the restaurant and recently opened a shop. (JG Photo/Omar Havana)
Not so long ago the idea of producing authentic cheese in Cambodia would have been considered impossible.
While the country boasts an abundance of arable land and a large workforce skilled in working the land, a lack of know-how, quality control and a general distaste for dairy produce meant even a simple block of cheddar was very hard to come by.
Despite these odds, and the inconvenience that there wasn’t a single commercial milk-producing cow in the entire kingdom, an unlikely pair managed to persist and realize a long-held cheesemaking dream.
In 1999, Roberto Ferroni left his Italian hometown Bibbiena for a country he had never heard of. When he arrived, Cambodia was still reeling from a tragic civil war and a brutal genocidal regime that devastated the nation and killed almost two million people.
“There was nothing,” recalled theTuscan. “Hardly any cars, just old motos [motorcycles] and not many businesses.”
It wasn’t long before Ferroni lent a helping hand to the ailing and miserably poor nation. Joining a cooperative for the Order of Mother Teresa he helped to build a hospital in the nation’s capital. After several years in Phnom Penh, the intrepid adventurer was lured to the ancient temples of Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia to work as a tour guide. But his heart was not in it. Increasingly he became desperate to explore his true passion — food.
After almost six years of residing in the developing country, inspired by his grandmother’s wood fire cooking in the Tuscan hills, the Italian founded L’Oasi. As its name suggests the restaurant according to Ferroni is an “oasis in a town crowded with tourists.”
From the day L’Oasi opened, Ferroni’s philosophy has been centered on providing the freshest and most authenticproduce available. The enthusiastic cook grows his own herbs to combine with his homemade pasta, pizza and specialty cured meats.
Import dependent
But it quickly became apparent that giving his diners a traditional Italian experience was not complete without cheese. Unfortunately, importing it was costly and not very practical, requiring long, bumpy drives to the border with Thailand.
It was then the idea to make his own cheese in Cambodia began to occur but to do this Ferroni really needed a partner, someone who shared the same passion and determination. That was when he met Chann Vuthy.
Chann, known by his nickname Titi, grew up with the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime with their accompanying genocide and war. It would be fair to assume the scars of conflict would have left him with a hardened and vengeful soul. But nothing could be more opposite for L’Oasi’s head chef and master cheesemaker, who is known for his broad smile and overpowering generosity.
The Khmer Rouge separated Titi, at the tender age of nine, from his parents. He was told he no longer had a mother and was sent to a grueling labor camp to work for the next three years. There he recalls numerous instances when the children, trained as informers, were forced to choose who would live and who would die.
When the country was liberated in 1979, the gentle Cambodian giant wasdesperate to study. In order to afford his tuition he arduously worked cleaningseptic wells to earn his keep and to support his family. But his salary was not nearly enough to maintain his studies so Titi decided to become a soldier and was sent to Malaysia and Vietnam with the Special Forces. However, this wasn’t the life he wanted to lead. “I decided to do something for my future,” he said.
Leaving behind a career as a special forces operative which offered him security and a fair salary, things that were all too uncommon in the poverty stricken nation, Titi took a job in 1998 as a kitchen hand in one of Phnom Penh’s five-star hotels.
After years of observation and culinary experience Titi honed his flair for cooking — a trade passed down from his father, a former chef for the country’s King Norodom Sihanouk.
Just like his Italian counterpart, Ferroni, Titi became frustrated with the food industry’s dependence on importing produce, particularly that of cheese.
“I saw all the different cheeses but they were made in France, Australia and Vietnam. So then I complained to my head chef why don’t we make it inCambodia? I said if somebody shows me how, I will do it. Then the chef said no it’s not possible because we don’t have milk. We haven’t had milk for 20 years.”
Instead of deterring eager Titi, the defeatist attitude of his boss sparked a relentless drive. From that day on the former soldier’s new mission was to become Cambodia’s first cheesemaker.
Cheesemaking videos
After joining forces with Ferroni seven years ago the pair studied everything to do with the craft of cheesemaking. Titi recalls hours of watching old Italian documentaries and videos on Youtube in order to learn the process.
“We studied with a video from Italy. I could not understand Italian but I watched the images and would rewind and pause until I understood how they did it.”
Equipped with the knack of cheesemaking and a bundle of determination the only hurdle to overcome was the absence of milk in the country. But as fate would have it, or what Titi and Ferroni believe to be “destiny,” a small farm in Cambodia’s west was beginning to experiment with the idea of producing milk.
In early 2011 Cambodia’s 7NG Group, with the help of Swedish partner HPT Dairy Company, began construction of the kingdom’s very first dairy farm and milk production facility. The keen cheesemakers jumped at the chance, signing up to be among the first buyers at the company based in Kampong Speu province which lay to the south of Siem Reap.
Both Titi and Ferroni admit production and supply of the milk can be unpredictable and limited. “In Europe they can make at least 25 liters of milk per cow for one day but here [in Cambodia] it is only 5 liters, so this is the problem,” Titi explained.
Nevertheless, the scarcity of milkcertainly did not prove to be a setback. On average they manage to source around 200 liters of fresh milk per week, enough to support their small yet increasingly popular enterprise.
Local milk
Since the pair started working with local milk, the restaurant produces an impressive variety of Italian specialty cheeses that include italico, cheddar, cream cheese, mozzarella, scamorza, ricotta, mascarpone and gorgonzola. In addition to the traditional range Titi, inspired by his Khmer roots, has been engineering his own samples of Cambodian fusion cheeses such as his Kampot pepper cheddar and the italico chili. The creative chef is also experimenting with ginger and banana varieties.
Before their audacious cheesemaking venture, Ferroni recalls the mixed reactions he received.
“Many people thought that I was a bit crazy,” he said. “The country had no milk.”
Now having successfully shown their critics how it’s done they are able to revel in a sense of accomplishment. “I’m very happy because what I dreamt before I now see. Before I dreamt about making cheese and now I am doing it,” Titi said.
Long time friend of Titi and Ferroni , Omar Havana, dines at L’Oasi almost every day when he is working in Cambodia. The Spanish photojournalist, who is practically considered part of L’Oasi’s extended family, is a fierce advocate for the kingdom’s little slice of Italy. He has had the pleasure to watch what was once a humble and to some extent laughable dream turn into a flourishing reality.
According to Havana, the first impression of many visiting Italians who dine at L’Oasi and sample the cheese is “I cannot believe that these guys make this here.”
“Most Italian people also say [the cheese] actually tastes better here than in most of the restaurants in Italy. I’ve heard people telling Titi ‘Man if you come to Italy you will be extremely rich.’ ”
However as Havana explained, while the authentic and homemade food is certainly an element to L’Oasi’s success there’s more to what makes “Cambodia’s best Italian restaurant” so special.
“For them they cook just to put a smile on the face of the people. They don’t cook to make money. They just cook from the heart. That’s what makes this restaurant totally different.”
Riding on the motivation of successfully pioneering Cambodia’s cheese industry the business partners, who describe themselves as brothers, aren’t willing to rest on their laurels.
“I would like to see my country change because there are no ideas at the moment,” Titi said. “The people only think of their family but they need to open their minds to think about the whole country.”
Thanks to the donations from Ferroni ’s friends back home, the pair have built a school that educates up to 100 localchildren. They are also building another learning hub, determined to do their part in breaking Cambodia’s cycle of poverty.
As for Ferroni, almost 14 years after setting off on his life-changing journey he would not have it any other way. “I hope we continue growing. I do not want to become a rich person, but I want to have enough to help this country that has become my home.”
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