Along with many events, exhibitions, and displays introducing national history and culture during the great festival, the introduction of culinary culture inspired by historical stories brings many interesting experiences to visitors to Hanoi.
Sharing with Hanoi Moi Newspaper about the idea of the “Independence Tet Meal”, Ms. Pham Bich Hanh, General Director of Phuc Hung Thinh Management Services Joint Stock Company, said: This idea comes from a true story. Before September 2, 1945, Uncle Ho returned to Hanoi from the war zone, and the first place he stopped was the house of Mrs. Nguyen Thi An in Phu Gia village (now Phu Thuong, Tay Ho ward). Uncle Ho stayed and worked in this house for 2 days (from the afternoon of August 23 to August 25, 1945) to prepare for National Day - Independence Declaration Day.
During his stay here, Uncle Ho's family prepared a warm meal for him. At that time, the people did not know who Uncle Ho was, they only knew that he was preparing a meal for a special guest. It was only when they attended a rally on September 2nd and saw Uncle Ho reading the "Declaration of Independence" at Ba Dinh Square that the people of Phu Gia village at that time realized that it was President Ho Chi Minh . "From this true story, we recreated the "Independence Tet Meal" to recall a part of the history and culture of Hanoi", Ms. Pham Bich Hanh shared.
According to journalist Vinh Quyen, who participated in researching and recreating the “Independence Tet Meal”, the production team returned to the house of Mrs. Nguyen Thi An, now recognized as a Special National Monument, to listen to villagers recount the meal that Uncle Ho was treated to on the first day he returned from the war zone to Hanoi to prepare for National Day September 2. “According to the villagers, we learned that the meal that Phu Gia village invited Uncle Ho to at that time included: rice, braised fish, taro soup, ham, sticky rice…”.
When recreating “Independence Tet Meal”, journalist Vinh Quyen and the producers based on the idea of the story of the meal that Phu Gia villagers invited Uncle Ho to on the first day of returning to Hanoi to prepare for National Day, and created more to make today’s “Independence Tet Meal” more meaningful.
“On Independence Day (September 2), many Vietnamese families prepare a meal to offer to their ancestors, remembering the nation’s roots and remembering the contributions of their ancestors to achieve the peace of today. This is a very good tradition, demonstrating the Vietnamese spirit of “remembering the source of water when drinking water”, Ms. Vinh Quyen expressed.
Accordingly, the “Independence Tet Meal” includes dishes from the three regions of the North - Central - South, expressing the solidarity and common joy of the whole nation. The meal includes: Braised catfish in clay pot (South); traditional Hue cakes; Nam Dan eggplant with soy sauce, Thanh Chuong pickled mustard greens (Nghe An specialty). In particular, the meal cannot lack dishes with typical Hanoi flavors such as: crab and taro soup, Phu Thuong sticky rice, boiled chicken, stir-fried squash with chicken gizzards, dill sausage (Dong Anh specialty), green rice sausage, etc.
Sharing more about the dishes selected for the “Independence Tet Meal”, Ms. Pham Bich Hanh said that the meal was inspired by the dishes that Uncle Ho had eaten in Phu Thuong village – a village famous for sticky rice. Although there was no sticky rice in the historic meal, the makers chose to make sticky rice – a specialty of Phu Thuong village, along with dishes such as green rice sausage to suit the autumn atmosphere of Hanoi.
“For us, the story of cuisine is not only about eating but also about culture and history. The Independence Day meal also means a meal of solidarity, celebrating the festival of the country. Therefore, we want to introduce the stories behind the dishes, the traditional cultural features of Vietnam. On the occasion of this Independence Day, the story of the meal in Phu Thuong village is very meaningful, and we believe that not many people know about it, especially many young people do not know this meaningful story, so we want to retell that story in the heroic atmosphere of the nation”, Ms. Pham Bich Hanh expressed.
Introducing "Independence Day Meal" (Performed by: Hoang Lan)
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/doc-dao-bua-com-tet-doc-lap-voi-ky-uc-ve-chu-cich-ho-chi-minh-713931.html
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