If you are a first-time visitor to South-East Asia (or even if you have spent some time here) you may not have discovered the distinguishing features of Lao cuisine.

Thats because many tourist cafes and hotels cater for Western preferences, or offer variations of Thai cuisine. Laos, landlocked with no port for external trade and a small emigrant population, has until recently, not spread its culture globally as Thailand and Vietnam have. So the nature of the food and eating style has remained hidden.

Lao cuisine is based on fresh foods, with meats and fish grilled or steamed. Low in fat and high in greens, vegetables and herbs are an integral element of any major meal. The fresh flavours that you will encounter again and again are galangal, lime juice, lemongrass, kaffir lime, local basil varieties, coriander, garlic, ginger and surprisingly, mint and dill. The strongest flavour the Western palate notices is padaek (fish sauce) - a common salting agent made from fermented fish.

Visiting any food market demonstrates the range and importance of these vital ingredients. As the water levels in the rivers drop, cultivation of vegetables in the rich riverbank soil begins.

The integrity of Lao cuisine is demonstrated by the fact that despite over a hundred years of French rule, their cuisine never took hold in Laos. Though there are a few exceptions: the baguette has certainly come to stay, and an emulsion-style sauce similar to mayonnaise features in Luang Prabangs famous watercress salad.

Thai cuisine, being spicier, liquid and with greater use of coconut milk, produces richer and more oily dishes. Curries are not as prevalent in Laos as they are in Thailand, though you may find them here in main street cafés frequented by tourists.

Theres a practical reason traditional Lao cuisine does not centre on liquid or oily dishes: the staple sticky (or glutinous) rice. Sticky rice is eaten with the fingers; the consistency makes it difficult to eat any other way. So to keep hands clean and dry, to avoid dropping rice into communal dishes, the style of cooking has adapted.

Rice is rolled into balls, there is much wrapping of ingredients in fresh leaves, and the drier grilled or steamed meats are enhanced by the delicious range of sauces into which the rice is dipped. Foods are often served at room temperature, perhaps also to suit eating with the fingers.

Special utensils are used for steaming sticky rice: an inverted bamboo basket holds the rice over a funnel-shaped pot in which the water is boiled. Charcoal braziers are common, and the smell of burning coals often permeates the air. Spoons are used only for eating standard white rice dishes and soups.

In the countryside, most people eat sticky rice exclusively, whereas in towns both sticky and white rice are cooked, as a result of the relatively recent introduction of Chinese-style stir-fries and Thai curries which are accompanied by regular rice.

Chopsticks are used only for noodles. Noodle soup (pho) was introduced from Vietnam, and has certainly taken hold. You will see the popular noodle soup being eaten as a morning dish, with large plates of fresh greens and herbs as an accompaniment.

A mortar and pestle is an essential item in the Lao kitchen. While food processors and blenders are common in the West, the pounding motion of the ceramic Lao utensil releases flavours in a way the processor cannot match. Wooden equivalents are better suited to grinding and cant achieve the same effect.

Follow the rhythmic sound of pounding when you hear it and chances are it will lead you to a street stall where some local variation on the traditional tam mak hoong is being prepared from shredded green papaya, chillies, garlic, tomatoes and assorted herbs to taste. A large swig of pungent padaek is essential!

Lao meals are served communally, with a range of dishes spread to share. Most commonly there will be a soup, grilled or steamed meat or fish, the ubiquitous sticky rice served in a bamboo basket and always a large plate of herbs and the many and varied green leafy vegetables that abound. Dipping sauces, usually a spicy chilli paste accompany the meal.

You will undoubtedly encounter laap, the national dish made from finely chopped meat, fish or poultry and flavoured with lemongrass and herbs. Traditionally made with raw meats, it is now readily served cooked to accommodate Western tastes, but the distinctive taste of mint is a reminder that this herb was widely used to impart freshness to uncooked foods in the past.

Although in general you will most commonly encounter fish, pork, poultry and buffalo, Lao people have a long tradition of eating wild foods. As a peasant economy, any available wildlife in the forests has traditionally been regarded as a source of food, often eaten raw. An early morning visit to most food markets will reveal some surprising (and to Western sensibilities, often distressing) varieties of meats, birds and reptiles on offer.

Rich Lao coffee, so successfully grown in Laos Bolaven Plateau, has also become a staple, though its manner of serving has adapted to local taste. The aromatic coffee is a strong, filtered brew served with sweetened condensed milk and a black tea chaser. Watch out - it can become addictive!

The potent local whisky, lao lao is brewed from rice and consumed on festive occasions. In country villages, lao hai, or jar alcohol is a sweeter, fruitier rice wine. It is usually drunk straight from the clay pot in which it was fermented, through two long bamboo straws.

And finally, no article on Lao cuisine can overlook the delightful refreshing Beer Lao, described by the Bangkok Post as the Dom Perignon of Asian Beers. Universally acclaimed, it is one of Asias best-kept secrets, and is a delightful accompaniment to a glorious Lao sunset, perhaps by the Mekong or listening to the evening chanting of the monks.