Lotus seed cookies and the wooden mold in Tu Duc’s era.
1. When the yellow apricot trees at the gate bloom, Ms. Huynh Thi Dan Thanh brings out a bag containing her 6 ancient bronze cookie molds. The image of her mom diligently pounding the powder, making the sugar sirup, and tending the fire comes back in her eyes.
At that time, the little hamlet on Bach Dang Street (Hue City) smelled of sugar and beans. Sensing the fragrance, children soon gathered waiting for a piece of overcooked or broken cookie. Her father was “building” a cookie tower; her sister was helping her mom wrap the cookies putting aside some for their relatives and neighbors.
Dan Thanh’s mung bean cookies
Her mom’s love packed in her Tet cookies keeps following her till she grows up. A few years after her mother’s passing away, and when she had overcome the psychological trauma, she began to make mung bean cookies with her mom’s cherished cute molds.
“If only had I been closer to my mom, I would have learned the skills of making cookies earlier. Every time I make cookies, touching the molds, I feel as if my mom were beside me showing me what to do. I keep talking to myself that I would try to do my best,” confided she.
2. In the house by the river in Bao Vinh Old Quarter, another set of bronze cookie molds, which is about one hundred years old, was passed on to the fourth generation. Ms. Phan Nu Phuoc Hong, the owner, still keeps her passion for making traditional cookies. Her grandma came from a royal family. She taught her niece how to make mung bean cookies, sticky rice cookies, arrowroot starch cookies, etc.
Little Hong at the time “bathed” in the world of cookies. That is a beautiful memory that nurtures her soul, making her cherish the tradition of Hue women.
The bronze molds kept by Phan Nu Phuoc Hong’s family
Hong's paternal family is rich. Since becoming a daughter-in-law in that family, her mother had involved in roasting beans, preparing powder, and making cookies for Tet and death anniversaries.
“I still remember kneading the dough and making hundreds of cookies all night long until my hands got swollen. At that time, the baskets at the gate were packed with cookies being dried in the sun. They were still soft, fragrant and delicious after 2-3 months later,” said Ton Nu Minh Trang, Hong’s mother.
After many ups and downs, her husband’s mother wrapped the molds and asked her daughter-in-law Ton Nu Minh Trang to keep them carefully. In 2000, the 6 molds were handed over to Hong when she bought her grandmother's old house with a view to reproducing the ancient space of her family.
She gives many courses of experiencing making Hue cookies, makes video clips about making Hue cookies, then posts them on social networks, hoping to spread the love of traditional cookies to young people. Her daughter, a representative of the fourth generation in the family, learns to make cookies from her mother too.
“Some of the molds have been tarnished, but I love them so much. I love my mom’s and grandma’s passing their career on to her children and grandchildren. They cook because they love us. I always hope those who eat the cookies appreciate the women’s effort,” said Hong.
Hong used to order to have some other molds made at Phuong Duc, but the molds today are completely different. “Molds now are machine-made. Though they look sharp, they fail to produce cookies as beautiful as those from the old molds. My grandma’s molds were made in a way to avoid making our fingers get hurt. Casters in the past were so skillful,” compared Hong.
Watching her shows about Hue cookies, many people fall in love with them and sign up for her classes. “Someone from Saigon wanted me to find her a mold. “When I see you make cookies, I miss my mom so much,” she said. At that time, I knew I had touched the memories of many people, awakening the love of making traditional cookies in them," added Hong.
3. In a well-shaded garden house in Kim Long, Mrs. Le Thi Thanh Huong was gently lowering the old wooden mold hung in the cabinet in the curiosity of many people. She cleaned the mold with a small brush, then dried it with a towel. She then applied some cooking oil to the mold and hung it in the shade to dry. Seeing the way she took care of the mold, we understand how much she cherishes it.
The wooden mold looks like a cylindrical pestle made of mức wood, the kind of wood that ancient people used to make printing woodblocks because it is soft, light, fine-grained, and easy to be carved. The mold has a total of 15 hollow boxes of different shapes (square, fan-shaped, round, oval, etc.,) with traditional patterns such as peach, finger citron, pomegranate, turtle, etc. There are 4 boxes on each of the three sides; the fourth side contains just 3 boxes for bigger cookies.
According to Mr. Nguyen Tat Meo, Huong's over-80-year-old father-in-law, the mold was left to him by his great-grandfather, Mr. Nguyen Tat Hien, who was a high-ranking mandarin in Tu Duc’s era (1880).
“On traditional Tet holidays in the past, we made cookies from sticky rice and mung bean with this mold. Because of my old age, I gave this wooden mold to Huong as Huong, my daughter-in-law, is knowledgeable about and has a passion for Hue cookies," said he slowly.
Receiving the precious mold as well as the experience from her father-in-law, Huong confidently makes cookies from mung bean and lotus seeds for her guests. Her friends keep looking at the patterns which they have never seen before with their wide-opened eyes. The delicate details of flowers and fruits on the cookies show the superior skills of those who made the molds at the time.
“The molds are beautifully and sharply carved. Cookies made from those molds are as beautiful as pictures. That makes me fall in love with making cookies. This special gift inspires me and nurtures my love for Hue cookies. It also motivates me to keep the career and pass it on to future generations,” said Thanh Huong.
4. Mai Thi Tra, a culinary artisan, was so touched hearing about the hundred-year-old molds. According to Tra, wooden molds are now very rare.
“With such simple objects and whole-hearted people, it is like a continuity that keeps Hue women’s kitchens always warm and sweet,” said Tra.
On these Tet days, if you have a chance to taste the cookies, close your eyes and think about those grandmothers, mothers, and older sisters who were diligently making then drying them on the charcoal fire. Who knows the cookies you eat have been made using the heirloom molds of a family that makes traditional cookies?
Hue boasts many hundred-year-old things waiting to be told about when possible.
Story: Giang Lan
Photos: Linh Tue - Hoang Phuoc - Bao Minh