Back to good old days of banh chung, banh tet

The apricot and peach trees in early bloom signal the advent of Vietnam’s biggest holiday of the year, or Tet. Around the country, families are preparing glutinous rice and other ingredients to make banh chung and banh tet for this Lunar New Year.
Staff of the HCMC-headquartered travel firm Vietmark are also rolling up their sleeves to arrange a tour that will take participants to the good old days of banh chung, a square glutinous rice cake filled with green bean paste, pork fat and onion slices, and banh tet, which is akin to banh chung except it is cylindrical in shape.
Truong Hoang Phuong of Vietmark says the two-day banh chung tour will begin in the quiet ecotourism area of Cao Minh in Dong Nai Province on February 6, or the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month when Vietnamese place offerings to see off the Kitchen God.
Also regarded as the soul of the kitchen in many households, the Kitchen God is believed to return to Heaven seven days ahead of the Lunar New Year to report the activities of every household over the past year to the Jade Emperor. Then, this emperor of the heavens rewards or punishes a family based on his yearly report.
The tale of the Kitchen Gold still remains vividly in the belief of many families to this day, but the tradition of cooking banh chung and banh tet just before Tet is fading away as it takes more time and effort to make these cakes than it does to buy them in the market at anytime of the year.
Fortunately, many families, especially those in the countryside, still keep the long-lasting tradition through which youngsters can learn much about the past and the indispensable rituals for Tet.
As usual, grandparents and parents tell their nephews and nieces and children about their life chores in the past and compare past and present traditions of Tet. Such stories told by a fire used to cook banh chung and banh tet provide young generations with an insight into the change in traditions and values as time goes by.
Vietmark wants to help revive the good ambience of cooking banh chung and banh tet on a fire by organizing this tour. Phuong says the primary objective is to create an opportunity for family members to surround a brazier of red-hot charcoal used to cook the cakes and exchange their sad and happy memories of the year.
Participants will be taught to make banh chung and banh tet from ingredients provided by the tour organizers and then cook these cakes properly so they will be most enjoyable on the threshold of the Year of the Tiger at the ecotourism area.
Phuong said Cao Minh was a quiet tourist site nearly 50 kilometers from HCMC and near the dam of Tri An Hydropower Plant in Dong Nai. There, participants will stay by the fire to talk about Tet in addition to topics of interest, or sleep in a tent provided by the organizers.
The next morning, the organizers will award prizes to the best banh chung and banh tet.
The banh chung tour is VND870,000 per person and includes round trip car fare, two person tents, food, drinks and insurance.
For more information, contact Vietmark Co. Ltd. on the first floor of the building at 166D Tran Hung Dao Boulevard, District 1, HCMC, tel: (08) 5404 5404, email: info@vietmark.vn.