Culinary 'congress' in Truong Son

CUTTING THE FOREST TO FIND PRODUCTS

Having the opportunity to work in A Luoi district (Thua Thien-Hue), I often receive messages from the locals to bring this Tet back to the village so they can treat me to delicious and unique dishes that are only available during Tet. "You will not be disappointed! Many people who celebrate Tet with their fellow countrymen have compared Tet in A Luoi valley to a culinary "convention" with many specialties of ethnic groups that not everyone has the opportunity to enjoy once in their life," invited Mr. Le Van Hoi (33 years old, Pa Koh ethnic group, residing in Hong Thuong commune).

Unique traditional Aza koonh festival of Ta Oi people

Pa Koh girls enjoy the festival and celebrate the New Year

Mr. Hoi cited that not every local person has ever tasted the dish of bamboo worms (a kind of worm that lives in bamboo tubes - NV ) stir-fried with pickled shallot leaves, called P'reng . Because, before September and after about February - March every year, the worms have crawled out of the bamboo stems and turned into butterflies. Or the dish of wild mice marinated with ginger, chili peppers, a little salt, then put in bamboo tubes to grill. Then the dish of A choor (a kind of stream fish) wrapped in several layers of banana leaves and buried in hot coals... These are dishes that "money cannot buy" because the ingredients and spices are all endemic species that only appear seasonally and only in the Truong Son range. On normal days, if you want to eat these dishes, you won't have them, but during Tet, many Pa Koh families prepare them to invite guests.

"About a month before Tet, the young men in the village call each other to cut through the forest to find products, of course not wild animals that are prohibited from being caught, but stream fish, snails, frogs, tadpoles... We also go to pick and dig up spices such as wild pepper (mac khen), ginger, galangal... to bring back and store. On Tet holiday, when guests come to visit, depending on the dish, we just need to grill it, stir-fry it with chives, cook it with taro... to have a delicious, hot dish right away," said Mr. Hoi.

A month before Tet, the Ta Oi community is also busy preparing dishes with the rich flavors of the highlands. Some dishes are made dozens of days before Tet, especially cakes made from sticky rice. Old lady Can Hoan (80 years old, Ta Oi, residing in Hong Thai commune) told the men to go find snacks and make wine while the women pound rice, choose sticky rice, and find leaves to wrap the cakes. The Ta Oi often choose delicious local sticky rice varieties such as Ra Du, Cu Cha, Trui... to make cakes and xoi ong. "My mother often makes them to offer to Yang (Heaven - NV ) on Tet. Among them, A Quat cake is the most difficult to wrap because the two ends have to be sharpened with fresh leaves and then sticky rice is added. When finished, the cake looks like two buffalo horns, so it is also called Croissant cake. It is very delicious to eat with grilled meat," said old lady Can Hoan. She still makes pounded sticky rice cakes with black sesame ( adeep man ), a special cake that is in danger of being lost.

Having lived in the Truong Son Mountains for many years, researcher Tran Nguyen Khanh Phong said that on Tet, the Ta Oi people express their traditional culture through their culinary culture with unique and elaborately prepared dishes. "Because they live in the cold mountainous areas and move a lot, the Ta Oi people like to eat dry, salty, and spicy foods. Therefore, most of their dishes are prepared by grilling, roasting, boiling, or rare," said Mr. Phong.

N STUPID MEN CHUON

Some unique dishes of the highlands during Tet include grilled fish and meat in bamboo tubes (put meat in bamboo tubes, cover with corn cobs, place on the grill and roll evenly on hot coals), taro cut into pieces mixed with marinated meat and then poured into the tubes to grill... Strangely enough, according to Mr. Tran Nguyen Khanh Phong, dishes that at first sound like they will be picky eaters such as grilled rotten birds, rats, and crabs are actually high-class specialties. After being cleaned and seasoned, the ingredients are put into each bamboo tube, reed or dried gourd and then just need to be grilled over the fire once to get hot, then stored in a basket or placed on the kitchen rack, after a few days when opened, when smelling the aroma, they can be eaten. The Ta Oi people believe that during the holidays, bringing these dishes out to entertain guests is a way to show the host's affection for the guests.

A Quat cake is indispensable during Tet holiday of ethnic groups in Truong Son.

Meritorious artist Ho Van Hanh (77 years old, residing in Trung Son commune), who is known as the "living dictionary of the Truong Son mountain range", said that the agricultural calendar of the ethnic communities in A Luoi usually ends in the 10th lunar month, after which people will celebrate the new rice festival Aza (choosing a day from November 6 to December 24). Celebrating the country's Lunar New Year, people consider it as combining two Tet holidays into one. Therefore, families spare no effort in finding products to entertain guests. The specialties of each ethnic group are meticulously prepared, and they prepare the Tet holiday the same way they do for the Aza ceremony.

"Dad cares more about "drinking" than "food". It's Tet! Men need to have something to sip with friends to be happy. Dad likes tr'din wine the most, which means "heavenly wine" because it is distilled right on the top of the tree," old Hanh laughed. Although Pa Koh, old Hanh likes the traditional wine of the Co Tu people. According to him, this is the most delicious wine in the Truong Son range, extracted from the tr'din tree growing deep in the forest. The craftsman only needs to make a cut on the tree trunk and then use a can to collect the water. Add a little dried bark of the Chuon tree, the water will ferment itself to create a unique flavor.

Grilled wild mouse in bamboo tube

Meritorious artist Nguyen Hoai Nam (79 years old, Co Tu ethnic group, residing in Hong Ha commune) is proud that tr'din wine is loved by ethnic groups, including Kinh people in A Luoi, and "cannot be sold" every Tet holiday. Elder Nam said that the Pa Koh, Ta Oi and Co Tu people also have a similar wine to tr'din, which is ta vat wine, distilled from the doac tree. The doac tree is easier to find, but harvesting it is more dangerous because you have to climb higher than the tr'din tree. "These are probably the only wines in the world that can be picked from trees and brought home to drink without having to distill them," Elder Nam laughed. Depending on each person's taste, during Tet, ethnic minorities also cook sticky rice wine ( xieu ), brew jar wine ( a rieu ), sugarcane wine with dragonfly shell ( a vey ), rattan wine with dragonfly shell ( ta via )...

Ms. Le Thi Them, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of A Luoi district, commented that each ethnic group has its own traditional Tet customs. But it is truly precious when people bring their "own Tet" to the "common Tet" of the country and the ethnic groups still retain their unique culinary features, rich in the flavor of the mountains and forests. "When Tet comes, every family prepares delicious dishes to invite guests. Tet in A Luoi feels like a culinary "congress" of ethnic groups with a lot of unique dishes and drinks... More interestingly, families also exchange culinary experiences by exchanging meat tubes, baskets of cakes, jars of wine... to be able to enjoy dishes that their families do not have. Tet is a united and warm one," Ms. Them shared.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dai-hoi-am-thuc-o-truong-son-185250106174804198.htm