Vietnam Culinary

One thing I always try to do in travels is to not build up expectations of a country before I go there.  It’s hard not to do it since the reason to see new countries comes from the excitement or desire of some passion that we experience in our own personal world that originates in this new country I am about to explore.  It’s difficult to not build up a fantasy about how great the Pyramids of Giza will be when first glimpsed, how do I not make the assumption that my bites of sushi in Japan will be the best sushi ever, or have the anticipation that Patagonia will have some of the most awe inspiring peaks I’ve ever seen.

So I go in to Vietnam with a slightly repressed excitement on the food I was about to taste.  Five days in the Old Quarter of Hanoi was a great start to be in the middle of bountiful and diverse street food and restaurants in a short walk in all directions.  The streets are crowded and tight with people, vendors and honking scooters everywhere.  Little street side restaurants are often just a slew of kindergarten sized plastic stools that everyone crouches as they eat and drink.  The beer is plentiful with the typical basic local lagers and international imports but there is the local “fresh beer” that is delivered daily to bars in kegs that is a light crisp and low alcohol brew.  The fresh beer goes perfect with the salty, crunchy and fried foods that are common. 

Though it is easy to stay within a normal range of food types, the Vietnamese have a lot of other dishes and delicacies that stray from the western normal fair.  Fried chicken feet, snails, horse meat, pig’s ears, intestines, and other unknown items can be tried easily.  So it is always an adventure and even a mystery sometimes as what you are eating.

In the end, I was not disappointed at all and came away with the excitement and joy in the culinary experience that I had tried to stifle before I came here.  A few items challenged me and some items I won’t go out of my way again to try but overall it was delicious and thrilling.  Even though the food was fantastic, its enjoyment was outdone by my love for the eating process around the table.  You have a bowl to scoop some rice in to and then the rest of the dishes are presented for all to share on the table.  It becomes a free for all match of flying chopsticks, chatter, slurping and drinking that is a frenzy at a dizzying pace till it is all complete.  I would be wrapped up in the pace and energy and pleasure of it all.  Add in the rice wine in the small little cups and the resounding “Chimsee Qway” as we down one more shot and I was happy and in a place and moment that far exceeded my fantasies and expectations.