food&wine
I
EAT WHITE RICE AND DRINK
RICE WINE IN CAN THO
t's hard to find a place where
rice is tastier and more
aromatic than that in Can
Tho, the city mentioned in
the folk verse "Can Tho gao
trang nuoc trong" (Can Tho white
rice, pure water). A simple bowl of
rice can enchant any visitor coming
here. A foreign friend keeps asking
me why Vietnamese people always
greet others by asking "Hey, have
you eaten yet?". This is not only
a question but also a special way
to say "Hi" like English speakers
ask "How are you?". This way of
76
TRAVELLIVE
greeting
is very
popular,
especially in
the Mekong River
Delta. Surely, whenever
visiting my friend in Can
Tho, his mother will give me
her friendliest smile and ask
"Have you eaten, dear?" while I
also greet her by asking "Have you
eaten, Madam?"
Rice in Can Tho is the most
delectable in our country and
provides you with the greatest rice
dishes. A bowl of streamed rice
wafting its pure scent and some
pieces of stir-fried beef with telosma
cordata flowers can attract anyone
passing. After lunch, it's amazing
to sip rice wine while relaxing on a
hammock.
The better the rice, the greater the
wine. Locals in Can Tho have their
own way to cook and enjoy wine,
which is simply liberal yet close like
their personality. In order to have
good wine, they need to pay much
attention to choosing the correct
rice
grain
and
alcohol
yeast as well
as being careful
in every detail.
Rice is steamed and
cooled down before the
fermentation process. Yeast
is made from various ingredients
such as the top layer of herbs,
cinnamon, clove, dried tangerine
skin, big longan or betel. Wine
which is traditionally cooked using
dried straw and rice husks which
are the most flavorsome. It takes a
long time to cook wine in this way;
therefore, locals only cook some
bottles of wine by themselves to
treat their guests.
GO TO CHAU DOC MARKET,
VISIT "THE KINGDOM OF FISH
SAUCE"
Explore the culinary art of this That
Son (Seven Mountains) region,
and you will find the obvious