Dear country markets

I always love country markets. Wherever I go, whatever region I visit, I always want to visit these rustic markets because they are not only places for exchange and sale, but also the voice, the soul of the fields, the rivers, the "identity" of the country.

At the market, I like to go straight to the vegetable section every morning. The seasonal fruits and vegetables are freshly picked and sold.

Morning glory, Malabar spinach, Malabar spinach, jute, mustard greens… are arranged in round baskets by the ladies; buyers turn them over not knowing which bunch to pick and which to discard. The vegetables are bundled neatly and plumply with smooth, sturdy strands of sticky rice straw.

Seeing a vegetable stall, one immediately imagines a plate of boiled morning glory with eggplant salad or a bowl of crab soup with jute and passionflower, which helps to dispel the summer heat. Then there are bunches of guava, star fruit, and lychee in the first season - simple but sweet and nutritious.

Illustration: Tra My

The vegetable area is equally abundant. Under the cool shade of the roof, there are sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, pumpkins, onions, carrots, turmeric, ginger, cucumbers... just pick some to save for stewing bones or eating gradually. The most enjoyable and irresistible thing is when I see the lady selling sticky corn. I love the small, white corn cobs that still have the flavor of alluvial soil. The stickiness, fragrance, and sweetness are carefully extracted from the roughness and roughness of the hands of the ladies and mothers.

Over there is an area selling shrimp, fish, mussels, crabs, snails... I don't know why, but I only like freshwater fish, river shrimp, and pond snails: small but firm, sweet meat. Mussels and clams cooked in a sour soup, with a few Vietnamese coriander leaves added, have a refreshing taste. My father said these rustic dishes are more delicious than any delicacy in the world.

Another area I often wandered around was the area selling wickerwork. Baskets, trays, baskets, baskets, mats made of sedge, rattan, bamboo... shone with the color of ivory ribs, the eyes of sunlight. Many items were also dried on the kitchen loft to catch the smoke, imbued with fire to make them more flexible and durable. I remember the times I went to the market with my grandmother, she would always choose to buy some wicker items there. Then on the dike road back, an old man and a young man would walk with a winnowing basket on their heads instead of hats, while the baskets and baskets were tied to the shoulder pole she had just bought. She praised this market shoulder pole as being sturdy, strong, light, and not painful on the shoulders. That shoulder pole would follow her up and down the fields and many market days, flexible with each quick step.

At the end of the day, I would go down to the food court after walking around. The delicious cakes, rice cakes, sweet rice cakes, fried cakes, porridge, vermicelli, and sweet sticky rice desserts were irresistible.

The food at the country market is cheap, filling, and so hearty that it makes you miss it. A bowl costs only a few thousand dong, so you can eat until you are full but your eyes still crave it and your feet don’t want to move. While leisurely enjoying a cake or a bowl of vermicelli soup with crab soup while listening to the chatter of the vendors, life seems so peaceful and pleasant.

The taste of soy sauce or fish sauce, the glow of crab meat, and the sprigs of raw vegetables evoke the atmosphere in the small kitchen every afternoon, and the wisps of smoke floating on the pot lid of the glowing charcoal stove.

That’s why every time I go to the market, I have to “eat snacks”, from the time I was a kid following the adults or later going alone or with friends. And I remember how much I longed and waited for my sisters and me when waiting for my grandmother and mother to come home from the market. A little snack to welcome me made me excited all through those childhood afternoons.

And since when, I have known how to count the market days like my grandmothers and mothers. To calculate and arrange things so as not to miss out. Even though supermarkets and shopping malls are popping up everywhere now, I am still eager to wander around a market, where the soul of the countryside lingers, deep, tirelessly and filled with love!

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/van-hoa-du-lich-van-hoc-nghe-thuat/van-hoc-nghe-thuat/202508/than-thuong-nhung-phien-cho-que-cca11f5/