Winter comes, remembering corn with lime

Today, I live in the city of thousands of flowers, many people also call it the highland city, the foggy city, the tourist city… whatever you call it is reasonable. When winter comes, the cold weather of Dalat brings people many emotions, many moods.

Dalat in winter is probably the most beautiful season, when the weather is beautiful and the natural landscape is also at its most colorful. This is the time of year when there are many festivals, so a European-style city like Dalat is also very suitable for experiencing Christmas and welcoming the New Year in a memorable way. And I am currently a civil servant, living in the city; but I was born and raised in the countryside, "a real farmer"; "a literature student who has just left the plow and hoe" my relatives often call me that. Therefore, on dry, cold days like this, I remember my roots, my beloved hometown; where in the afternoon I sit by the warm fire and childhood memories come flooding back. There are memories that come and go, but there are also many unforgettable memories. Among them, the most memorable is the memory of the pot of "corn with lime" that my grandmother often cooked for the whole family when winter came.

During the subsidy period in the last century, there were no gas stoves, no rice cookers, no pressure cookers... so to cook a pot of corn with lime, it took a lot of effort, firewood and time. First, choose the dried white corn, pick out the kernels and put them in water to soak with betel lime in an appropriate amount for 5 to 6 hours. Put them in the pot, put them on the stove to boil until the corn kernels are soft; take them out and rub them to remove the corn kernels' skin and the silk around the kernels, making them smooth and white, then add water to cook the corn. You can add a little black beans to cook together. With my grandmother's method, when eating, add a little peanut salt so that the corn sticky rice will have the rich taste of black beans, the sticky aroma of corn kernels, and the fat of peanuts, blending together, making me exclaim with admiration until now. During the poor years, when there was not enough rice to eat, eating corn sticky rice with lime was like a side meal, an extra meal; but also the main food for large families with many difficulties, especially those with little land, not enough rice to eat, having to go to ethnic minority areas to buy or use something like tobacco, salt... to exchange for dried corn to bring back to store as a staple food. Because the family has many siblings, every time my grandmother makes corn with lime, she often cooks a lot, can eat two meals a day and in the lean months can make it once a week. At first, eating it with peanut salt has a salty, fatty, sweet, nutty taste... feels delicious, then gets bored. My siblings and I take turns rummaging through the pot to get fish sauce to pour into the corn bowl, and that's a meal, to get through a day in a time of famine. Most people born in the 60s or early 70s of the last century who now grow up in the city were born and raised in the countryside, at least know what the countryside is like; so when hearing about sticky rice with corn or corn with lime, it will not be strange. Corn growing land is hilly areas or non-flooded areas, planted at the beginning of the rainy season. When the corn is even, the corn can be cut down, the corn broken off and boiled to sell or used for family meals. The remaining corn left in the garden is cut off the top of the corn (each plant should leave one corn) so that the plump corn continues to absorb nutrients until it is old and dry, then harvested and hung on a smoke rack or stored in a dry place for use during the year. There are many types of corn, but the most popular during the subsidy period are waxy corn and hybrid corn. Waxy corn has small ears, but the kernels are soft, sticky, delicious, short-lived, easy to care for, and are preferred by farmers to grow more to relieve hunger. Hybrid corn has large ears, long-lived, can be grown on hillsides, people often grow a lot on the fields, harvest with large yields, serving well for livestock farming. On the days when my grandmother makes sticky rice with corn and lime, the whole family gathers around the fire, preparing baskets and basins to rub the corn; especially the first months of winter is a warm family atmosphere. that atmosphere has been more than 40 years, but when i think back my heart always chokes up, remembering a time of poverty.

Yet today, corn sticky rice has become a specialty; a breakfast dish that is available everywhere from urban to rural areas. The dish is suitable for all groups and all ages in society. It is convenient, but also provides a variety of nutrients that are beneficial to human health. According to functional analysis, each portion of corn sticky rice contains an average of 8.3g of fat, 51.3g of starch and 8.2g of protein. In addition, the variety of vitamins and minerals in this food can be mentioned as vitamins C, B1, B5, A, D... along with zinc, copper, sodium, magnesium, calcium... For corn, since ancient times, farmers have summarized into folk songs about family affection and social relationships, specifically: It is better to eat corn with lime/than to be rich and orphaned alone. When winter comes, sitting and remembering the pot of corn with lime, I remember a time of poverty but it is truly unforgettable because of the love and relationships in the family community of my hometown.

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