Eating and drinking standards in relation to the plentiful development of food in TL-HN

A meal of a multi-generation family – Illustration photo

We’ll look first at the changes within the family. Over several decades, the model of extended family which included four generations living under the same roof has gradually disappeared. Instead, nuclear families are more and more common. As a result, although all members of the family still gather for everyday meals, there is no scene of “upper tray, lower tray” or gender and hierarchical discrimination. The custom of respecting the elderly, however, is always appreciated.

In terms of structure of meals: In the past, there was a clear distinction between ordinary meals and feasts when there were guests, or on holidays or special days. Now, this structure has changed. The quality of life is improved, so in ordinary meals there are not only some simple dishes like meat, fish, and vegetables but also some dishes which are rich in nutrition and skillfully cooked and displayed such as roasted dove, simmered chicken, and soup.

Cooking techniques have also changed greatly partly due to the use of new food technologies, among which the most typical are the use of seasoning and sodium glutamate. In the past, to make the food taste sweet, Hanoians skillfully combined the animal and plant ingredients (crabs cooked with basella alba or loofah) and stewed animal’s bones (pig or chicken’s bones) or dried shrimps for broth. Now, seasoning is the main sweetener used to marinate food before cooking and to flavor sauce or soup.

The market for food is abundant and convenient for everyone. Most traditional foods which used to appear only on the Tết holiday such as bánh chưng, bánh dày, pork paste, grilled chopped meat, spring rolls, and sticky rice are now not only available in shops, in small and big markets in residential areas. Some snack foods such as sweetened porridge and cakes are available in shops but also brought to street corners to serve customers. Moreover, other fast foods like noodles and canned meat and fish have emerged and are becoming popular.