Anh Tuyet received us in her rather narrow kitchen. She was busy preparing for the upcoming New Year’s Eve party. Many traditional dishes were displayed on the tray, including roasted cinnamon pork, lean port paste, dried bamboo shoots, dried pig skin, pigeon with lotus seeds and, of course, square cakes-all carefully prepared and beautifully presented. Looking at the food I thought of my own large family meeting New Year’s Eve celebration.

According to Tuyet, a traditional Hanoi’s feast might also include fin, salangane nest, fried cuttlefish, baked chicken and some other dishes depending on each family.

She said in a low voice that nowadays it was difficult for Hanoians to fully preserve their traditional gastronomy. The fast pace of modern life has forced them to hurry up and try fast food. Moreover, women are busy with social activities and can’t concentrate on cooking much as in the past. It is no longer considered important to teach young girls to cook.

Hanoi’s traditional cooking is a sophisticated art which requires a lot of patience, passion and experience. For example, to make braised fish, you must prepare many different spices such as ginger, fresh tea leaves, galingale, chicken fat and natural spices. The mixing and braising must be perfectly timed.

Tuyet said Hanoians were gourmands, but they were moderate, polite and smart about eating. They don’t eat to stuff their bellies but savour the taste of the food. Therefore, the feast often comprises about diverse but small dishes.

Tuyet held that a good dish should be suited to the season, nutritious and balanced. For example, Hanoians ate dried bamboo shoots in winter while eating fresh bamboo shoots in summer because dried bamboo shoots would make them thirsty. The dishes were well-balanced. Soft green-bean cake was a popular dish in Hanoi’s New Year feast. In addition to its nice taste, green-bean compliments and balances other foods. New Year’s food is often nutritious, but oily, so the palate of flavours must be harmonised. Onion pickle help to stimulate the appetite.

According to Tuyet, it’s challenging to cook a truly great dish. But it is more difficult to lay the table and to make the dishes look appetizing. Meat and vegetable must be carefully prepared and the colours should be harmonious. The cooking skills could be seen in her omellete which was as thin and light as rice paper and her sliced kohlrabi, which looked like vermicelli.

Tuyet was talking with us while making a type of tapioca and green-bean compote. According to her, this dish is very fresh and is carved as dessert after eating too much food during Tet. Tuyet also introduced us to her honey-roasted chicken-a speciality of the house.

A cooking course for foreigners was in progress in House No. 22 on Ma May street. Some French tourists were busy preparing Hanoi Nem (spring rolls). Some were rolling the Nem, others were frying and others were tasting them. It was easy to see from their expressions how much they relished the flavour of the food they were learning to make.