Eating as in the North; clothing as in the South, the eating of the North people in general, the Hanoi people in particular for many years now have been summarized to become a familiar fancy word.
Those two words seems so simple but implying in gastronomic features that is unique and intrigue any one embarking on the thousand-year land of historical festivals.
Gastronomy because of that has built the special pride of Hanoi people when mentioning about Hanoi gastronomy, people can remind immediately to the elegance, sophisticated but very fine and noble . . . from how to choose ingredients so that the food is delicious, suitable to each dish to the recipe, presenting so that they are right to the correct manners and the essential is the heartedness of the giver and the receiver. Each dish of Hanoi bears a particular flavor. The smell and taste of Hanoi people dishes is not too strong or too spicy. The combination, assistance between kinds of spices and how to blend them is very “harmonious”, rhythmic both increasing the flavor of the dish but still keeps the nutrients in that dish. The taste of the Hanoi people does not concentrate on any taste but always bases on the requirements of each dish to blend the spices for suitability. Nearly half the spices are medicinal plants thus when preparing the dishes, the Hanoi people use spices to balance Yin and Yang for the food not to nourish like the dishes of some Asian countries.
The eating of the Hanoi people does not attach more importance to substance than to form . . . but it has been upgraded to gastronomic art because of that Eating is not only to be full, to be enough but “eating” with the sense of smell, vision and taste to enjoy also the beauty, the spirit of the dish.
The Hanoi city has for many generations now been а “favorable position”, there are markets and rivers and more than the capital city that rarely can any land be compared with. That is the focal point and meeting of gastronomic quintessence of hundreds of regions both domestically and abroad. The peculiarity, distinction of each region together with the sophistication being kept and transmitted from one generation to another further соnsolidate and enrich the treasure of gastronomy culture of the Hanoi people.
Therefore, Hanoi gastronomy today not only make the elderly who are deeply attached to the old traditional style enjoy and nod repeatedly with satisfaction but also please the diners of the later generations or the customers who get to know Hanoi delicious foods for the first time. Although they are the dish of any origin, the skillful chefs know how to select process the material to create new, suitable dishes but still combination of peculiar, traditional features and sill suitable with the modem life today. Now when mentioning about Hanoi, there are not only beef noodle, West Lake shrimp cakes, Thanh Tri steamed rolled pancakes, Vong village green rice flakes, La Vong grilled fish . . . but also hot snail noodle, chicken noodle, pillow cakes, mixed eel noodle rolled noodle, Chinese floating cakes. . .
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