Dear country markets

I always love country markets. Wherever I go, whatever region I visit, I always want to visit these rustic markets because they are not only places for exchange and buying and selling, they are also the voice, the soul of the fields, rivers, and the "identity" of the country.

When I go to the market, I like to go straight to the vegetable section every morning. The seasonal fruits and vegetables are freshly picked and sold.

Morning glory, Malabar spinach, Malabar spinach, jute, mustard greens… are arranged in round baskets by the ladies; buyers turn them over not knowing which bunch to pick and which to discard. The vegetables are bundled neatly and plumply with smooth, sturdy strands of sticky rice straw.

Seeing a vegetable stall, one immediately imagines a plate of boiled water spinach with eggplant salad or a bowl of crab soup with jute and morning glory, which dispels the summer heat. Then there are the first bunches of guava, star fruit, and lychee of the season - simple but sweet and nutritious.

Illustration: Tra My

The vegetable area is equally abundant. Under the cool shade of the roof, there are sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, pumpkins, onions, carrots, turmeric, ginger, cucumbers... just pick some to save for stewing bones or eating gradually. The most enjoyable and irresistible thing is when I see the lady selling sticky corn. I love the small, white corn cobs that still have the flavor of the alluvial soil. The softness, aroma, and sweetness are carefully preserved from the roughness and roughness of the hands of the ladies and mothers.

Over there is an area selling shrimp, fish, clams, crabs, snails... I don't know why, but I only like freshwater fish, river shrimp, and pond snails: small but firm, sweet meat. Clams and cockles cooked in a sour soup, with a few Vietnamese coriander leaves added, have a refreshing taste. My father said eating these rustic dishes is more delicious than any delicacy in the world.

Another area I often wandered around was the area selling woven items. The baskets, trays, baskets, baskets, mats, and mats made of sedge, rattan, and bamboo... shone with the color of ivory and sunlight. Many items were also dried on the kitchen loft to catch the smoke, imbued with fire to make them more flexible and durable. I remember the times I went to the market with my grandmother, she would definitely choose to buy some woven items there. Then on the dike road back, an old man and a young man would walk around with a winnowing basket on their heads instead of hats, while the baskets and baskets were tied to the shoulder pole she had just bought. She praised this market pole for being sturdy, sturdy, light, and not hurting her shoulders. That pole would follow her up and down the fields and many market days, flexible with each quick step.

At the end of the day, I would go down to the food court after walking around. The rice cakes, rice cakes, sweet potato cakes, fried cakes, porridge, vermicelli, and sweet sticky rice desserts were irresistible.

The food at the country market is cheap but filling, so hearty that it makes you miss it. A bowl costs only a few thousand dong, so you can eat until you are full but your eyes still crave it and your feet don’t want to move. While leisurely enjoying a cake or a bowl of vermicelli soup with crab soup while listening to the chatter of the women selling the food, you can feel how peaceful and pleasant life is.

The taste of soy sauce or the smell of fish sauce, the glow of crab meat, and the sprigs of raw vegetables evoke the atmosphere in the small kitchen every afternoon, and the smoke wafting over the pot lid of the glowing charcoal stove.

That’s why every time I go to the market, I have to “eat snacks”, from the time I was a kid following the adults or later going alone or with friends. And I remember how much I longed and waited for my sisters and me when waiting for my grandmother and mother to come home from the market. A little snack to welcome me made me excited throughout those childhood afternoons.

And since when, I have known how to count the market days like my grandmothers and mothers. To calculate and arrange things so as not to miss them. Even though supermarkets and shopping malls are popping up everywhere now, I am still eager to wander around a market, where the soul of the countryside lingers, deep, tirelessly and filled with love!

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202508/than-thuong-nhung-phien-cho-que-cca11f5/