Papaya Salad

Som Tam belongs to the Lao-Isan world that Kat grew up in. Long before papaya reached Southeast Asia from the Americas, the people of this region were pounding sour salads in a mortar and pestle; when the new fruit arrived and proved perfect for shredding, the dish we now know was born. Its name means simply 'pounded sour', after the rhythmic pok-pok of the pestle that still rings out from every stall that makes it.

It's considered a national dish of Laos and the very heart of Isan cooking in Northeast Thailand - a region tied to Laos by language, culture and the Mekong. Shredded green papaya is bruised with chilli, garlic, tomatoes, green beans and peanuts, then dressed sharp with lime, and traditionally eaten with sticky rice and grilled chicken.

Kat grew up eating exactly this in Maha Sarakham, in the Isan countryside, where Som Tam isn't a restaurant dish but daily life. She makes hers the authentic way - genuinely spicy, pounded to order - which is why it tastes like the real thing rather than a tourist version. The dish at the very heart of Kat's own cooking, brought to St Albans.