The core value of Pho heritage in the flow of creative cultural industry

According to the latest information from the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports , the city has sent a document to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism asking for permission from the Prime Minister to allow Hanoi to coordinate with provinces and cities with Pho heritage to prepare a dossier to submit to UNESCO for inclusion in the List of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

With the special values of Pho, a world- famous dish loved by international friends, experts say that Pho becoming a world heritage is completely worthy.

However, in order for Pho to affirm its position and sustainable vitality in the contemporary cultural flow, Vice President of the Vietnam Cultural Heritage Association, former Deputy Director of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly shared with reporters of Vietnamplus Electronic Newspaper that we need an innovative promotion and communication strategy for this heritage.

The final destination of the legacy...

- Pho is a very familiar dish not only to the people in the country but now Pho is also present in many countries. Pho "covers" from sidewalk stalls to restaurants, 5-star hotels, bustling shopping centers... How do you evaluate that shift as well as the value of Pho in the flow of contemporary life today?

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly: Pho is a very familiar dish to Vietnamese people and even international tourists when coming to Vietnam, because of its flavor, history of development as well as its deliciousness, suitable for everyone. Nowadays, when Pho steps out of the sidewalk stalls or in the alleys to be placed in the space of a commercial center, it has a different meaning.

Many diners enjoyed authentic Pho Van Cu at the Pho Festival 2024 space. (Photo source: VNA)

To make Pho live in contemporary life, to make the young generation understand its true value, we need to have a different approach, paying special attention to the way of serving, how to make Pho truly a cultural product containing memories and creative values of the community, not simply a dish.

In my opinion, Pho heritage needs to be promoted along with innovative serving methods and new communication methods. Because Pho is the culture and memory of Hanoians and Pho is living in contemporary life with new perspectives, new experiences, more modern, faster and closer to the integration of the world.

- Cultural heritage only truly has life and is strongly shaped when it is associated with indigenous culture and the local community. However, in the process of modern exchange and adaptation, there are many new Pho styles, many creators have created strange flavors. What do you think about this trend?

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly: Pho knowledge, or the way of making Pho, is called an intangible cultural heritage in the national list. Intangible cultural heritage has the characteristic of being made by humans. Without humans, intangible cultural heritage cannot be expressed, and humans always put new creations into it.

In the history of Pho, the creators of this Pho have always been creative. We have Pho Nam Dinh in Nam Dinh, Pho Ha Noi in Hanoi, Pho Ha Noi in Saigon and Pho is present in many countries around the world.

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly. (Photo: Mai Mai/Vietnam+)

Obviously, the subjects always seek to innovate and recreate new products. Why do they have to do so? Firstly, because they find new secrets and they want to experiment to make Pho more and more quality and more sophisticated. Secondly, creativity to serve the needs of life, from dishes to service style, all need to be creative.

The principle of protecting intangible cultural heritage is that we respect creativity, always encourage it to be more and more suitable to life, not necessarily frozen, must be true to old values. Because whatever the heritage is, the final destination is to serve life.

Core values of Pho

- So, in your opinion, what are the core values that need to be preserved in the Pho heritage?

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly: We had a very good experience with the UNESCO expert. Firstly, regarding the “physical” element, making Pho cannot be without rice. Pho can be without meat but cannot be without broth. Pho cannot be without herbs, onions, and spices of all kinds.

Second, what makes Pho's national intangible value is the way it is prepared, the way people create pho noodles, broth, and use spices in a harmonious and suitable way for the dish... that is knowledge, the core element that makes up the "intangible" value.

Nowadays, with creativity, we have vegetarian pho, mixed pho, dry pho… but the core values as I just mentioned are what make the difference and value of Pho.

Pho, with its special value, has now become a national brand. (Photo source: Vietnam+)

- How do you evaluate the traditional values of Pho in the constant integration flow of the creative cultural industry being recognized as a brand?

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly: I was born at an intersection of the old quarter, a place that bears the strong imprint of Hanoi's traditional culinary culture and is also the center of Pho, Hang Trong and Hang Hom.

During the war, although there were very few pho restaurants, Hanoi had the famous Pho Phu Gia, which is now the location of the Aprico Hotel. Turn left to Hang Bong Street, Ly Quoc Su Street also has many famous Pho restaurants. Going to Hang Gai, Dinh Liet, Hang Giay, there are still Pho Suong, Pho Vui; Hang Hom has Pho Hong, Pho ga... That shows that Hanoi Pho is very developed.

So what about Pho in the flow of today's creative culture industry? Pho has now become a national brand. As soon as you set foot in the Korean airport, you will have Pho. In Paris, District 13 is full of Pho shops, even the Pho shops there overshadow other shops. In America, in every state there is Vietnamese Pho, the most famous is Pho 75. Not to mention that in faraway countries like Denmark, Sweden, and Northern Europe, there is also Pho.

Obviously in the contemporary flow, Pho is very developed and has become a national brand.

When Pho appeared in luxury hotels in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo source: VNA)

- As someone who has traveled to many countries around the world, you must have seen the images of Pho shops that have appeared there and become a favorite dish among international friends. How do you feel when you come to a foreign country and see the image of a dish with the rich flavor of your homeland?

Dr. Le Thi Minh Ly: Visually, when I see Pho appear somewhere, I feel very happy, especially when they write the name Pho in Vietnamese, mostly in restaurants in France, America, and recently in Korea. More than 20 years ago, when I went to France, I saw people lining up to eat Pho and it is still the same now.

I am happy that Vietnamese culture has spread all over the world, and especially when experiencing the homeland dish in your country, I feel how much they appreciate the value of Vietnamese culture, seeing the vitality of Pho in another society.

Thank you for sharing./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/gia-tri-cot-loi-cua-di-san-pho-trong-dong-chay-cong-nghiep-van-hoa-sang-tao-post1070640.vnp