Phia Sing was the Master of Ceremonies and Chef at the royal palace of Luang Prabang. He died in 1967. Phia Sing's notebooks containing these recipes were loaned to Alan Davidson, British ambassador in Vientiane in the early l970s, by the Crown Prince of Laos. Alan Davidson arranged for their translation and added much useful material explaining Lao foods and cookery. The text is ornamented by drawings, mainly by the Lao artist Soun Vannithone. There are 124 recipes. Some of them also figure in Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos, but their range encompasses every aspect of cooking, not merely the fishy bit.