i haven't learned how to say "food coma" yet in vietnamese, so i had to settle for "so full!" yesterday as i dodged the chopsticks loaded with nem, bun, pho cuon... just like a good southern hostesses, vietnamese women really push food on their guests. the hostess often places the choicest morsels in the latters' bowls – whether they want them or not.
"khong no, khong ve," they say.
"you can't leave till you're stuffed!"
(part two of that saying is "khong say, khong ve," which is "you can't leave till you're drunk" and which wouldn't necessarily be a problem except that you sometimes hear it at lunch time... among taxi drivers. hmm...)
anyway, i mentioned a few days ago that vietnamese cuisine was a wondrous thing. it is. i have really gotten into food in the last couple of years. i wouldn't call myself a 'foodie' - i'm not that sophisticated - i just really like to eat. and nowhere am i as giddy about food than in viet nam. it is so fresh, savory, and plentiful... i can't contain my excitement! i thought the baguette and cheese in france was dangerous - i'll be 20 pounds heavier by the time i leave if i continue at this rate!
"khong no, khong ve," they say.
"you can't leave till you're stuffed!"
(part two of that saying is "khong say, khong ve," which is "you can't leave till you're drunk" and which wouldn't necessarily be a problem except that you sometimes hear it at lunch time... among taxi drivers. hmm...)
anyway, i mentioned a few days ago that vietnamese cuisine was a wondrous thing. it is. i have really gotten into food in the last couple of years. i wouldn't call myself a 'foodie' - i'm not that sophisticated - i just really like to eat. and nowhere am i as giddy about food than in viet nam. it is so fresh, savory, and plentiful... i can't contain my excitement! i thought the baguette and cheese in france was dangerous - i'll be 20 pounds heavier by the time i leave if i continue at this rate!
sidewalk vegetable stall - much nicer than the butcher's stall!
yesterday, our côs had us over for lunch and a cooking lesson. they sent us to the market to practice our bargaining skills (and my hunch is, to get a laugh out of how badly we were taken on the price of chile and watermelon!), then we chopped, sliced, rolled, and fried until we were starving. and then we ate. and ate. and ate... we'd just learned about the relationship between food and the five basic elements, the rules that combine metal (spicy), wood (sour), water (salty), fire (bitter), and earth (sweet) in each dish or in the meal as a whole, and i was thoroughly enjoying the various combinations before me. in fact, i enjoyed them until i thought i was going to explode. then we had desert! my vietnamese hostesses were pleased.
this is minh. she said i was very "enthusiastic" about lunch, an understatement if i've ever heard one.
the final product - and this is only one end of the table! featured in this picture is pho cuon: beef, lettuce, and herbs rolled in a very thick rice paper and served with fish sauce, chiles, and lime. when it feels like a warm bath outside (which it has since we arrived), there is nothing nicer than pho cuon and a glass of cold bia ha noi (hanoi beer).
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