The source of the Tet feast in Hue

PHILOSOPHY OF THE MEAL

Ancestors are always present through the ancestral tablet - incense bowl on the altar, to certify the achievements and supervise the mistakes of their descendants. In front of the altar, filial piety will support the educational ideology of encouraging good and discouraging evil, very humane. In Hue's traditional philosophy of life, ancestors are "home" on death anniversaries and Tet holidays. Descendants must fulfill the duties of worship and observance, taking care of the tomb to fulfill the second duty of filial piety, which is not to let their family members go hungry or have rags (the other two duties of "three great filial piety" are to continue the lineage and not to let their family members be looked down upon).

Vegetarian meal on Tet holiday in Hue

After the Kitchen God returns to heaven on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, people clean their houses and altars, change the sand in the incense bowls, and prepare offerings. When all administrative and farming work is finished, usually on the 29th and 30th of the 12th lunar month, the family holds a year-end offering to thank the local gods and ancestors for supporting the family during the year and invites the ancestors to come to the altar to celebrate Tet. This is a quiet time, when children and grandchildren return to gather before their ancestors, so the year-end offering tray is even more sacred. Women devote all their energy and resources to the family to first offer (to the ancestors), then to the children and grandchildren to enjoy the benefits, following the family tradition (how much or how little, depending on the family situation), and must offer a sincere gift.

On the basis of traditional wet rice agriculture which is generally poor, from the village to the royal court, our ancestors have philosophized the feasts in the direction of Sen (sparing) but Sang (luxurious), must Hoa (harmony) and Hoa (diversity, transformation), making the culinary story more meaningful: delicious in taste; healthy in pharmacology; harmonious in nutrition, materials, colors, context; solemn and sacred in space, subject and object; careful, meticulous in presentation... Like the dish of peacock and phoenix spring rolls in the "eight treasures" in the royal palace, it is actually made from peacocks and phoenixes with care, delicacy, and optimal safety according to the royal court's regulations. That is like the "original", but there are also many other "versions", gradually decreasing, in the life of royal family members, upper-class mandarins, replaced by wild chickens and in the folk, domesticated chickens, birds...; even made vegetarian with ingredients such as fuzhu, tofu, mushrooms, jackfruit, breadfruit, figs, and even jackfruit pulp, which is a waste. Diverse, varied, sophisticated, and luxurious.

Hue people celebrate Tet in the first year of becoming a centrally-governed city

CONVERGENCE AND UNIQUENESS

The year-end offering tray in the ancient capital of Hue gathers dishes from many materials: meat (livestock, poultry, natural), seafood (from rivers, lagoons, seas) and herbs (vegetables, tubers, fruits); processed by methods without using heat (eaten raw, eaten in salads, fermented, salted), using heat (rare, cooked) such as frying, steaming, stewing, braising, steaming, grilling, boiling, cooking, baking, roasting, simmering, stewing, rare, braised, stir-frying...

Hue Tet tray, crafted by artisan Mai Thi Tra

On the offering tray, the soup bowl and stew bowl are arranged in the middle in the style of water gathering/water gathering, helping to position the dishes with water around, then the dry dishes with meat and fish; on the outside are the stir-fried and mixed dishes. The system of dipping sauces, sauces, and broths is diverse for each specific dish, with the decoration of colorful spices: garlic, pepper, chili, onion, coriander, celery... There are also green chili, ripe red chili, left whole or chopped, crushed; whole garlic or peeled into cloves, or chopped, placed on small plates with the name of delicacy. The more wealthy the family, the more sumptuous and elaborate the feast, typical of the royal court. Since 1793, J. Barrow in his work A journey to Nam Ha 1792 - 1793 saw that the eating style of Hue people is very unique. Because Chinese people usually put all the dishes on the table, but Hue people not only cover the table but also stack the dishes on top of each other three or four layers, up to more than 200, very sumptuous and sophisticated.

After the New Year, the ancestors "stay", the descendants take care of the food and drink on the altar, symbolized by a system of cakes (chung, tay, tet, loc, in, to), jams, pickled vegetables, pickled vegetables, dam (meat, vegetables, fruits) and many flowers, fruits... The rest depends on their heart and strength, the descendants can make a tray of offerings or simply eat whatever they want to offer because the nutritional needs of Tet are not high and to avoid waste. The small, delicate things are very practical like that.

Therefore, the year-end offering tray is the most abundant, converging and connecting the two worlds of yin and yang, helping to nourish family traditions, linking filial piety and loyalty throughout, helping to stabilize the foundation of society. That sacred source needs to be maintained and promoted in the current context, starting with the story of the meal and offering tray.

Tet meal

Hue cuisine is even more delicious and meaningful with the year-end offering tray, opening the Hue New Year, so that Hue is worthy of the title of "culinary capital". The figures of men and women in the family are also "distinct", clearly positioned. In the past, men who became famous in society, fulfilled their filial piety and loyalty, also thanks to the strong rear with the housewives behind taking care of the house, fields, worshiping ancestors, supporting grandparents and parents, and raising children. The kitchen in the east of the room was red with fire, the stove was regularly lit with incense, connected to the incense bowl on the altar, was the incense burner, taking care of the meal tray (daily) and the offering tray (on the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th) were always pure, delicious, healthy and solemn.

The Hue Tet altar is decorated with the desire for peace and fertility. In addition to the tray of offerings, there is also sticky rice, the essence of heaven and earth, with many nutrients and adhesion (sticky rice, banh chung, banh tet...); there are sweet soups, jams and cakes, the sweetness of heaven. The flower on the left (east) symbolizes the woman with the desire to blossom. The fruit on the right (west) symbolizes the man, bearing fruit with the center being a bunch of bananas, showing the transformation from green to yellow, ripe black. Above are fruits from the home garden, prioritizing the seeded ones (soursop, pomegranate, watermelon, guava, orange...) with the strong desire to reproduce.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mach-nguon-tren-mam-co-tet-xu-hue-185250102205951821.htm