Some customs and taboos in table manners in Thăng Long-Hà Nội
VGP - There is quite a variety of customs and taboos in the Hanoian table manners that are related to behaviors, health care and beliefs.
- With regard to behaviors: Daily meals are occasions for all
family members to gather together, so normally a meal will not start until all
of them are present. Therefore, one often tries not to keep the others waiting
at meal times. Everyone is used to talking joyfully during the meal; however,
they are not supposed to do this while chewing, or to speak of dirty things,
tell frightening tales or scold someone else. As a Vietnamese proverb puts it: “Chớ
eo xèo khi đãi khách. Chớ hậm hạch lúc ăn cơm” (Don’t complain while
treating guests. Don’t be angry while having meals). Moreover, it is also
considered discourteous to concentrate on eating without saying a word during
the meal.
A meal
in a Hanoian family during the traditional Tết holiday – Illustration photo
After food has been picked up with chopsticks from the tray, it should
be put into the bowl before being eaten. Such table manners as eating and
drinking slowly and chewing carefully at meals have become Vietnamese customs,
and been so treasured by Hanoians that they have become generalized in this
proverb, “Nhai kỹ no lâu, cày sâu tốt lúa” (Chew carefully to get
full for a long time, work the soil thoroughly to help rice grow well).
When a guest is invited to a meal, the host is expected not to finish
the meal and leave the dining table earlier than the guest. There are also
conventions on dishes and how to cook them to treat guests. With the same
ingredients, the way of cooking them for daily meals should be different from
that for a guest-treating meal to show the host family’s respect and
hospitality towards the guest. For example, fish should be fried instead of
being braised; pork should be grilled or roasted; and chicken or duck should be
boiled rather than stir-fried. Besides this, Hanoians are also known to be
elegant in drinking, that is, they do not drink tea or wine in one gulp but sip
it without making noise.
- With regard to health care: Some taboos in diet that date back
to the past still exist nowadays due to the traditional conception that “có
kiêng có lành” (Abstinence will bring about good lucks). The most typical
example of these customs relates to women’s
behavior during and after their pregnancy. During their pregnancy, women often
avoid eating food which is considered “hot” or “cold”, such as dog meat,
duck and some hot spices like ginger, garlic and hot pepper, as,
according to
An
old female Hanoian preparing food offered to her ancestors – Illustration photo
traditional medicine they may have a bad effect on unborn children.
Furthermore, through a process of association they used to abstain from
food such as double-bananas for fear of giving birth to twins, crabs for fear
of the unborn child lying in a horizontal position at the time of delivery, or
snails for fear of salivation in the newborn child.
After delivery, women are advised not to eat many more dishes to avoid all possible hazards that might be fed to their babies through their breast milk. They have
to keep off food that is fishy (chubs, oysters, snails, etc.), slimy (eel,
catfish, pot-herb, basella alba, etc.) or very sour (lemons, grapefruits, etc.)
to protect themselves and their babies from getting digestive diseases.
- With regard to beliefs: The idea of “ăn lấy lộc, lấy khước” (eating
for good fortune) is widespread in the population. Dishes that are eaten for
good fortune here refer to those offered to the Buddha and gods as votive
offerings in pagodas, temples and communal houses. It is said to be good for
one’s health to eat votive dishes. Therefore, such votive offerings are often distributed to everyone to enjoy.
On the first and fifteenth days of every lunar month, all those who go to the
pagoda service will abstain from food which is believed to offend or blemish
Buddha and gods, including dog meat, shrimp sauce, garlic.
