Cest cheese

Tourism potentials in Hau Giang Province need to be awaken

February 15, 2021 by sggpnews.org.vn

Every morning, Stiermann Martin, general manager of the RiceField Lodge resort in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, rides a canoe to take his tourists along the 40-kilometer beautiful Xa No canal connecting Hau Giang Province with Can Tho City. The canal, formed in 1901-1903 by two French people, is an important traffic route connecting Mekong Delta provinces and transporting rice in the region; therefore, it is called “The rice road” while Hau Giang Province is home to endless rice fields and canals entangled with boats.

Going with General Manager Stiermann Martin, Director of Vong tron Viet ( Vietnam Circle) Tourist Company Phan Dinh Hue said that according to his own experience, holiday-makers easily get bored after 20 minutes of sightseeing in Can Tho City’s Cai Rang floating market on Cai Rang river, one of the most interesting tourist attractions in Can Tho city and one of the five most beautiful floating markets in Asia.

Instead, tourist company should organize a trip along the Xa No canal; travelers will be interested in goat farms or well-known pineapple fields along the canal. Holiday-makers will have an enjoyable experience of the tour to attractive destinations such as Xang Moi flower village, ten rice mills built during the time under French colonial domination, 20-ha mango field Bay Ngan meeting VietGAP standard and a village specializing in boat making.

Travelers are totally relaxed at witnessing traditional milking by hand, making cheese and other village activities. Visitors can understand more about the lives of locals when stepping in the 2,000-ha pineapple field in Vi Thanh Town where tourist farms are set up beautifully. Xa No Canal is also a venue for exciting boat races which always draw shouts and shrieks from the crowd.

In the end of 2020, Xa No Tourist Market was established along the canal in Vi Thanh Town connecting a local tourist wharf, 4-star Xa No hotel, walking street Hai Ba Trung with entertainment sections and cuisine sections. These venues are considered as significant infrastructure for the trip from Xa No canal to Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Wetland Reserve, a unique and exclusive travel destination of the province.

The province is calling for investment in 2,800-ha Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Wetland Reserve to convert it into a famous tourist destination. Director of Vong tron Viet ( Vietnam Circle) Tourist Company Phan Dinh Hue said that Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Wetland Reserve and Xa No canal are the two significant pillars for the province’s development.

Secretary of Hau Giang Provincial Party Committee Le Tien Chau noticed that Hau Giang Province has potential for agricultural development, which French people have discovered the agricultural potential of Hau Giang since 1901. Therefore, he added, French people decided to build the canal, the largest irrigation work becoming a crowded agriculture road in the Mekong Delta region at that time. Over 100 years later, the province’s agriculture sector has made remarkable progress with more and more large rice paddy fields being formed and establishment of cooperatives and cooperatives chains.

By Cao Phong – Translated by Anh Quan

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Tourism potentials in Hau Giang Province Lung Ngoc Hoang Nature Wetland Reserve ancient Truc Lam pagoda cajuput forest Nga Bay floating market

World Tapas Day celebrated in Hanoi

June 21, 2020 by en.nhandan.org.vn

The event was co-hosted by the Spanish Embassy in Vietnam, the Spanish Gastronomy Association “Saborea Espana”, and the Vietnam – Spain Friendship Association.

Spanish Ambassador to Vietnam Maria Jesús Figa Lospez-Palop said the event was held for the first time in Vietnam in 2019 to the welcome of people in Hanoi, Da Nang, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City.

She added that tapa is a traditional food of Spain with various ingredients such as bread with ham or cheese on top, olive fruits, chilli, eggplant grilled with cheese, among others, which has become popular worldwide today.

General Secretary of the Vietnam – Spain Friendship Association Nguyen Hai Anh said the event offers a chance to further tighten friendship between the two nations.

At the event, the organising board also presented first, second, third prizes to winners of the online competitions “tapa cooking videos”, “best tapa photos” and puzzles about Spanish cuisine.

On the occasion, 18 restaurants in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City will offer traditional Spanish food to diners with discounts and gifts.

Egg coffee – the best coffee in Hanoi

January 6, 2016 by hanoitimes.vn

The Hanoitimes – A milk shortage in the 1940s led an enterprising barman to cast around for alternatives – and so cà phê trúng, Vietnamese egg coffee, was born

On one of the endlessly busy streets in Hanoi’s Old Quarter, tourists and locals alike can be seen searching for the almost-hidden cafe down a narrow alley where the original cà phê trúng (egg coffee) can be found. On the menu is an array of drinks but all anyone is ordering is this beverage, in hot or cold versions. The hot one, served with the cup sitting in a small dish of hot water to maintain its temperature, is almost too thick to drink, so you should use a small spoon first.

It doesn’t taste of egg – more like vanilla – and while you can taste the coffee at the bottom of the cup, the egg part is surprisingly light-tasting and not at all sickly, though certainly sweet. The cold option, laden with ice, is more of a dessert and tastes like coffee ice-cream. At the counter, collecting payment, sits Nguyen Van Dao, whose father invented the drink in 1946 while working as a bartender at the city’s Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel. At the time, milk was scarce in Vietnam so whisked egg yolk was used as a replacement. Other Hanoi cafes have attempted to imitate the drink, but the packed venue offering the authentic version is still the most popular spot in town for an egg coffee fix.

Coffee powder, condensed milk, a little butter and cheese are also added to the mix, but Mr Nguyen won’t reveal all the details.

Creating friendship over food on social media

February 24, 2021 by vietnamnews.vn

Hoàng Vân Anh

Tanya Pisarchuk, a digital marketer and amateur food reviewer, has spent more than seven years in Hà Nội. That’s also how old her Facebook group Wheretoget Hanoi is, now a community of more than 16,000 members navigating Hà Nội’s nooks and crannies for necessary things.

She first moved here with her partner and her children. Pisarchuk has tried many different jobs and now sticks with digital marketing. Eating is her excuse to get her out of the house and explore more of Hà Nội on a daily basis.

Tanya enjoying her lunch set. — Photo courtesy of Tanya Pisarchuk

Originally, it took her a while to get used to life here due to the cultural differences and the language barrier. However, by taking advantage of social media, she has made connections and friends, making it an integral part of her current social life.

It originally started with her Facebook group, Wheretoget Hanoi, when she first moved here with her partner to find things around town because it was hard to navigate a country with a completely different language. Now the group has both locals and expats who help each other by posting questions and answers sharing their knowledge.

Her food Instagram page, wtghanoi , created only a year ago has amassed more than 3,500 followers, who have made her realise how important what she’s doing is, especially for the non-Vietnamese speaking community.

Delicious food posts from various cuisine shared on wtghanoi. — Photo Instagram wtghanoi

“At first I noticed that since it’s so hard to know and learn about Vietnamese food, foreigners tend to stick to the same place to get their food all the time. Since I’m always going out, I want to show them the wide variety of options available in town.

“I don’t consider myself a foodie, but I’m definitely a hedonist. Food is easy to get and you can experiment with what you eat. You can always find new things to eat. In Viet Nam, there’s such a big response to food. People really love and appreciate it. That’s why I start making posts on food.”

Pisarchuk believes good pictures are essential to attract people to come and try the food, so she’s been learning to improve the quality of her photos, even by watching TikTok videos for tips and tricks.

Despite her preference for Western food as she craves things from home, she’s also very passionate about learning more about Vietnamese cuisine. She has familiarised herself with new flavours and now loves shrimp paste and fish sauce, though there are still things that she misses about her home in Belarus like herring and cottage cheese.

While keeping the account active is fun, she admits it’s a lot of work. She searches in Vietnamese to find new food spots as well as reading posts on Facebook and Instagram. Some other times, she just tries things that she comes by, like how she excitedly shared about her first time trying bánh tráng nướng (Vietnamese Pizza) the other day

“It was so good that I had to have two. I can’t believe it took me this long to know about it,” she said.

A major con is how time-consuming posting, editing and writing photo captions is, but she’s not discouraged. A tip she shares to succeed in anything is hard work and consistency.

“My first 1,000 followers took a really long time, but ever since, the number of followers has grown dramatically,” she said.

The most rewarding thing about running her Instagram, to her, is how her followers have reached out to show gratitude for her account. That’s when she realised she’s doing something important as she gets to show people the variety of the food options in Viet Nam and the beauty in trying new things.

Goofy Tanya on vacation. — Photo courtesy of Tanya Pisarchuk

Pisarchuk’s outlook on food is very positive.

“The most beautiful thing in life is that you get to eat three times a day, so you can experiment with what you eat and keep on finding new spots to eat,” she said.

Her Instagram stories capture unique ingredients that she comes across like new varieties of Vietnamese cakes or pig ears and chicken cartilage while shopping. Her excitement in her food journey here only means more quality content for her followers and fellow expats in Hà Nội. — VNS