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Pork grill. >> michel: all in banana leaves >> mama vaughn: banana leaves. mm. and then this is ginger sauce. eat the pork skin. >> anthony: pork skin, of course. and we have to have sticky rice. >> michel: yeah, sticky rice. >> mama vaughn: okay, bon appetit! >> anthony: food like this, uh, this is an imperial dish, a, a royal dish? >> mama vaughn: mmhm. >> anthony: have these disappeared, these recipes, or are they still here? they still are? >> mama vaughn: they're still here but you know, 'cause tony, it some time they do it not the way that sup -- not supposed to do it. they change ingred...

The war. >> anthony: mama vaughns' long time friend michel is a journalist, though what that means in a communist one party state like laos is necessarily different than what you and i might define it as. >> michel: when i was in paris, i studied ethnology. when i came here, they said, ethnology can wait. what we need it journalists. >> mama vaughn: journalist. that's why you get your job. >> michel: that's how i became a journalist. >> anthony: american involvement here remained a particularly painful and even taboo subject with the lao government. >> anthony: obama, the united states preside...

>> mr. see: wait for the man coming and give sticky rice. most people they give sticky rice. >> anthony: with wan ok phansa approaching, today is super alms day. a once a year halloween -- like bonanza, where in addition to the usual sticky rice, monks are offered all manner of treats. >> mr. see: i was a novice, come from my home village to live in the temple in luang prabang. i finish a monk. >> anthony: in orange robes, the whole bit? >> mr. see: mm-hm. >> anthony: now, do most young men go to the temple to ah -- >> mr. see: to get education, yes. >> james: it's a little like public educati...

This is a, look, this is a small country. only 7 million and change people. >> mama and michel: yes. yeah. >> anthony: not a lot of mineral resources. >> michel: no, not really. >> anthony: uh, no oil. if you were a cynical person. >> michel: i'm not. [ laughter ] >> anthony: why do you think he came? >> michel: well you have china, you have russia, you have, ah -- >> anthony: you think we need a -- we -- you think that maybe we think we need a friend in the neighborhood? >> michel: i think ah, everybody needs friends. [ laughter ] >> anthony: nice answer. i just got my cashback match, is this...

>> michel: at that time, we never know. >> antny: in those days, back in the '60s and '70s -- >> mama vaughn: 60, yeah. >> micl: yeah. >> anthony: usaid and cia had a lot of, let's say, overlap. >> anthony: mama vaughn, who i met here on my last trip is making lunch. an elaborate spread of dishes whose recipes are left over from imperial times. >> anthony: mm, so what do we have here? >> mama vaughn: this is lon song fish from mekong. we cook with shallots and garlic and chili, and coconut milk. and pork. >> anthony: crab? river crab? >> mama vaughn: crab. river crab, yeah. >> anthony: mm! >> ...