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| Beef vermicelli soup with cold rice, Hue's traditional dish |
Lean
From April 29 to May 2 at Thuong Bac Park, this year's food festival with the theme "The quintessence of rice vermicelli craft" will be held in the traditional cultural and culinary space of Hue in many diverse forms: exhibitions, experiences, entertainment, and shopping. With about 50 booths, the food festival introduces the traditional cuisine and specialties of Hue and other provinces and cities.
Culinary culture researcher Le Tan, General Director of Phu Dat Gia Co., Ltd., Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Food Festival Organizing Committee, said that this year's food festival tends to be lean. “Unlike the crowded and cramped space in the previous times, this year, the number of booths is reduced by half, 3-4m apart to create an airy space for diners to visit and enjoy food. Surely, this year's food festival will be more beautiful, more hygienic and have a highlight," said Mr. Tan.
In addition to the opening ceremony with the general art program "Firewater and cuisine", the highlight is the quintessence of Hue traditional cuisine. The food festival includes the following main activities: Performing the journey of rice vermicelli making craft; staging the dishes from rice vermicelli, Hue dishes and cakes; culinary space in Hue garden; North - Central - South cuisine; sponsors’ festival space and night honoring the hearts for "Hue - Culinary Capital"…
Along with the booths introducing the cuisine of the three regions from 7 provinces and cities, the food festival also has 16 booths of wards and communes in Hue City. The booths will participate in the contest "Culinary Space in Hue Garden" with dishes of rice vermicelli, noodles, and Hue traditional dishes according to the criteria: beautiful space, poetic decoration, delicious dishes, and attractive display.
This year's food festival does not have a closing ceremony, and the night honoring the value of "Hue - Culinary Capital" will close the festival to open up many other programs to honor the tradition and build the future.
Rice vermicelli craft honored
The highlight of the food festival at Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023 is to honor the rice vermicelli craft, a craft with a history of over 500 years in Thua Thien Hue. Legend has it that a woman from Thanh Hoa came to live in Van Cu Village (Huong Toan, Huong Tra) with her craft of making rice vermicelli and handed it down to this day. Currently, in Van Cu Village, there remains a Ba Bun (Madam Rice Vermicelli) Temple next to the communal house.
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| Hue beef vermicelli soup, a well-known dish throughout the three regions |
At the food festival, the space displaying Van Cu Village’s journey of rice vermicelli craft will introduce the tools used to make rice vermicelli from ancient times to this day. The artisans will also perform the journey of rice vermicelli craft, showing the historical value and quintessence of the craft with the following steps: selecting rice, sifting rice, soaking rice, grinding flour, wrapping and filtering flour and producing vermicelli fibers.… Diners will also experience the dishes: bún lá mắm nêm thịt tai heo (vermicelli with fermented fish sauce and ear pork), bún con nước mắm nhỉ thịt ba chỉ (vermicelli with fish sauce and pork belly), bún bò giò heo (beef vermicelli with pig leg), and bún hến (vermicelli with mussels).
Folk artisan Nguyen Van Tich said, “It is an honor for our craft village to display and demonstrate our craft at Hue Traditional Craft Festival. We prepared the tools for display. Van Cu rice vermicelli with a century-old history is increasingly growing and gaining market acceptance. I myself have pursued this craft for 40 years. This is the traditional craft of the family handed down from generation to generation.”
The special thing at the festival is that almost every booth has dishes made from rice vermicelli. It is expected that if there is a sponsor, the festival organizing board will develop a program of Vietnamese rice vermicelli path to process, display, and invite the public to experience dishes of rice vermicelli made by culinary artisans, experts, and master chefs from provinces and cities across the country.
The North has bún thang (vermicelli with chicken broth), bún mọc (vermicelli with grilled chopped meat), bún riêu (vermicelli with crab), bún đậu mắm tôm (vermicelli served with fried tofu and fermented shrimp paste) bún măng (vermicelli with bamboo shoot), bún chả cá Lã Vọng (La Vong vermicelli with fried fish), bún lòng (vermicelli with pig bowels), bún cá rô (vermicelli with perch)… The Central Region introduces bún bò giò heo (vermicelli with beef and hog leg), bún cua huyết (vermicelli with crab and clots of hog blood), bún riêu cua (vermicelli with crab soup), bún chay (vegetarian vermicelli), bún thịt nướng (vermicelli with grilled meat), bún trộn (mixed vermicelli), bún nghệ (vermicelli with turmeric), bún hến (vermicelli with mussels), bún mắm nêm thịt heo (vermicelli with fermented fish sauce and pork), bún chả cá (vermicelli with fried fish), bún hải sản (vermicelli with seafood). The South has bún cà ri (vermicelli with curry), bún mắm (vermicelli with fermented fish broth), bún gỏi (vermicelli with raw fish and vegetables), bún nước lèo (vermicelli with consommé)…
Accompanying the festival is a special program to spread the Hue brand: Researcher Le Tan will set a Vietnamese record with the “Hue-style" dish of mixed stir-fried rice vermicelli to serve 1,000 diners on the spot with a 2m-wide pan. This is one of the traditional dishes of Hue.
With the participation of 170 people, including 20 famous artisans from the North - Central - South regions, 30 professional chefs and 100 service staff will directly process 1,000 plates of mixed stir-fried rice vermicelli on the spot with a variety of food ingredients: pork, beef, shrimp, mushrooms, vegetables, local spices and dried rice vermicelli produced according to the technological process.
“Here, the record is not set in terms of large or small quantity, but a cultural feature is established: Hue-style stir-fried rice vermicelli,” emphasized Mr. Le Tan.
Vietkings Vietnam Record Council will directly appraise and award the certificate of record at the festival to the author and the Organizing Committee of Hue Traditional Craft Festival 2023, award the certificate of co-production and co-support in the implementation of Vietnam Record products for the directly-participating units. Next, diners will also participate in the program to welcome the "vermicelli fortune, record fortune" record: a lucky draw for 1,000 participants with a set of prizes including cash and valuable culinary products.
Culinary culture researcher Le Tan said that on the day of Bà Bún's (Madam Rice Vermicelli) death, January 22 every year, Van Cu Village organizes Bà Bún festival. Thua Thien Hue Culinary Culture Association will join hands to elevate this festival because this is a cultural feature of a craft village with a long-standing tradition.
Hopefully, in the wake of the food festival "The quintessence of rice vermicelli craft", Bà Bún will be mentioned more, becoming a typical historical and cultural value for Hue rice vermicelli brand to develop. This is also the start to propose recognizing Van Cu rice vermicelli as an intangible cultural heritage.