Vietnam culture

Eating and etiquette: Top tips for joining a VN family meal
 

VietNamNet Bridge – During my 10 months in Viet Nam, I was invited a few times by Vietnamese friends to eat with their families. Every time was a new discovery. Meals in Viet Nam are often very subtle and really different from France. Here is what I learned from my experiences:

If you look at all the world's cultures, they all have some kind of eating ritual. So when you are invited to eat a meal in Viet Nam, look for the unique local traditions.

As in many countries, it is not advisable to come to someone's house empty-handed. The most popular offering is, in my experience, fruit. Dragon fruit, mangoes and other expensive fruit are especially prized. Don't be surprised if the host does not unpack the fruit right away – he or she will keep it and instead offer you other fruit. It's also to your advantage to bring a specialty from your country or even a bottle of wine.

Chopsticks and rice

Every Vietnamese meal follows some basic principles. Rice is a staple, consumed at basically every meal, and it will typically be placed at the end of the table. 

Traditionally, the housewife serves the family members. But that pattern is starting to disappear. After rice, the second basic ingredient is vegetables and fruit, followed by meat and seafood, which during previous hard times were quite rare. Today, the standard of living is much higher, so meat takes a more important place.

Another element essential to the Vietnamese table: chopsticks. Eat with the thinner end. When you are not actively eating, take care always to prop them across your bowl. 

To plant them vertically is a sign of misfortune and death because it resembles the incense sticks used for the dead. Younger generations are more flexible with these rules, while in the most traditional families the practice remains firmly taboo. Finally, it is common for the host to serve his guest. Observe that he does not pass food from chopstick to chopstick but instead places it in your bowl.

Dinner is ready!

The expression "dinner is ready!" resonates naturally to the ears of Westerners, but Vietnamese turn away from this trite formula. 

You might sit around a table or on a mat on the floor. If the latter, sit cross-legged and do not extend the legs. The feet should not point towards food, as this is unhygienic.

The dishes are all placed together between the guests. According to a Vietnamese proverb, "an trong noi ngoi trong huong" (we must look at the bottom of the pan before taking). As in France, you should never take the last piece, unless the host prompts you. Do not fill your bowl to the brim. Take a small quantity each time. Never put a piece of food from the serving plate directly in your mouth. Instead, place it in your bowl first, where it will mix with other food and taste even better.

Last comes dessert. Forget about cake. Vietnamese people instead offer fruits, rarely the ones you brought. As mentioned above, the custom is to keep these gifts for later. Other fruits are often given to the guest to take away.

There are many more customs I have not mentioned here. The secret is to observe and adapt. Don't worry, missteps will be easily forgiven if you are a foreigner. 

by Eloise Levesque

 (http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/your-vietnam/85341/eating-and-etiquette--top-tips-for-joining-a-vn-family-meal.html)

The culture of betel and areca

In the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people, chewing betel is not only a habit and a custom but also an element of the traditional cultural values. Betel and areca are indispensable gifts in the engagement and wedding ceremonies as well as during conversations.

An age-old custom

Legend has it that the custom of chewing betel in Viet Nam has existed since the reign of the Hung Kings.

It is associated with the “Legend of Betel and Areca” about the faithfulness of a wife for her husband and the love between two siblings.

Betel and areca are used to start talking and help people become closer and more open with each other.

They serve as offerings in the important traditional ceremonies, such as the offering rituals, engagements and weddings, funerals and burials. They are a symbol of love, brotherhood, family and happiness.

Chewing betel is a popular practice of people from all walks of life, from normal people to the court and it has become a beautiful characteristic of the traditional culture.

It is the custom of not only the majority Kinh group, but also other ethnic groups, such as the Tay, Nung, Dao, Thai, Muong and San Diu in the northern areas, the Khmer, Bru, Edu and Cham living along the Truong Son Range and in the Central Highlands, and the Khmer in southern areas.

Apart from similarities, due to their different habitations and cultural spaces, the ethnic groups have their specific ways of chewing betel. The Muong, Thai and Ede people use the betel to entertain their guests while the Tay and Nung people use the betel in the ceremony of “tying the thread around the wrists of the bride and bridegroom.”

A betel quid consists of four materials: a wedge of an areca nut (which has a sweet taste), a betel leaf (spicy taste), a piece of bark of a special tree (bitter taste) and a little lime paste (hot taste).

All of them are chewed together, providing a delicious taste with red juice and freshness. The high areca tree symbolizes the heaven (Yang).

The lime symbolizes the earth (Yin). The custom of chewing betel is popular throughout Southeast Asia and the making of the betel leaves and areca wedges into beautiful shapes as well as the betel-inviting practice have become a form of artistic activities full of national identities.

Eternal fragrance and beauty

The custom of chewing betel in Viet Nam is mainly reflected in the betel kits since the Ly (1010-1225) and the Tran (1225-1400) Dynasties.

They include a knife for splitting the areca nuts and shaping the betel leaves, a pot of lime, a tube of lime paste, a little stick used to spread lime on the betel leaf and all of them are diverse in variety.

There are also trays, containers, baskets, boxes, bags and handkerchiefs to contain the betel, areca and small items.

For the elder people with weak teeth, there is a little spatula and a mortar to pound the betel and areca. In the betel kit, the lime pot is an important and indispensable item. In the past, it was respected as a god, so it is called “the Lime God.”

The betel and areca not only serve as offerings in the traditional ceremonies, but also have become a typical image of Vietnamese culture.

They usually appear in the folklore, folk verses, folk songs and festivals. Cao Nhan Village in Cao Nhan Communes, Thuy Nguyen District in the northern city of Hai Phong is known as an areca village.

During harvest time, bunches of areca nuts are piled up and the village is busy with many trucks carrying areca to many parts of the country.

In Phu Le Village, Lam Kiem Commune, Thach That District, Ha Noi, plates of betel and areca and lime pots can be seen everywhere, from the houses to the communal house and the fields.

During the Lim Festival in Bac Ninh held when Spring comes, the local girls wearing a kerchief (tied in a triangle on the forehead), a four-flap gown and a pink brassiere open their betel handkerchiefs to invite the men with betel and areca.

In the South, 18 betel garden villages were established in the beginning of the 17^th century, associated with the time of reclaiming land to build the villages. They specialized in growing betel to provide for six southern provinces.

The betel and areca market on Le Quang Sung in District 6, Ho Chi Minh City which provides the specialties from Ba Diem, a garden in the noisy and beautiful urban area, is a unique cultural feature beautifying the spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.

Source: VGP