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Culinary culture of the Vietnamese people in the Southwest in tourism development - The case of Vinh Long province - 26

4.2 Interview transcript excerpt (BBPV)

Because the number of pages of interview notes is too large to include in the Appendix, we only extract the questions and answers relevant to the content of the thesis topic.

MINUTES NO. 1

Interview with Mr. NN at 10:30 on October 22, 2016 at Saigon College of Culture, Arts and Tourism.

Question: In your opinion, what are the characteristics of Vietnamese culinary culture?

Maybe you are interested!

Answer: Delicious and healthy. These are the two most unique elements of Vietnamese cuisine compared to other countries.

- Delicious: suitable for taste

Culinary culture of the Vietnamese people in the Southwest in tourism development - The case of Vinh Long province - 26

- Healthy: good for health.

Vietnamese people use fresh ingredients for processing, unlike other countries that use frozen foods. In addition, Vietnamese people also treat diseases with cuisine: using ginger, onions, pepper to treat colds, boiling bitter melon water to drink to treat diabetes, boiling grapefruit peel water to drink every day to treat high cholesterol...

Vietnamese people do not use much meat and fish in their meals, but prioritize vegetables and fruits to balance the amount of animals and plants entering the body. Because it is good for health, Vietnamese women have slimmer figures than women in countries that use a lot of protein such as European and American countries.

Question: Sir, do natural conditions and social culture shape the characteristics of regional culinary culture?

Answer: Yes. Regional cuisine is influenced by the natural conditions of that region. The characteristics of climate, soil, and terrain create the typical culinary products of this country compared to other countries, this region compared to other regions, this province compared to other provinces.

Question: Why is Pho considered the "national dish" and "culinary ambassador" of Vietnam?

Answer: Pho is a traditional Vietnamese dish that appeared in Hanoi during the French colonial period. Because the French liked to eat beef, the Vietnamese used stewed beef bones and gradually created this dish. Pho can replace the main meal of Vietnamese people. Pho is very good for health. The combination of starch in pho noodles,

Protein in beef and vegetables such as coriander, cinnamon, herbs, bean sprouts... provide complete nutrition for the body. The spices are used in harmony according to the philosophy of yin and yang and the five elements, with ginger, star anise, onion, coriander... ensuring the health of diners.


MINUTES NO. 2

Interview with Mr. PVG at 9:00 a.m. on November 1, 2019 at the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long.

Question: Vinh Long has many culinary specialties that are loved by tourists, but they have not been professionally exploited to serve tourists. What do you think about this issue, sir?

Answer: Exploiting culinary in tourism is an issue we are interested in and have many plans in the future to carry out this type of tourism.

We are currently building the Mekong Delta Rice Agriculture Museum in Vung Liem and we plan to build a model for processing culinary products from rice here to serve tourists.

Question: What is the specific implementation plan, sir?

Answer: The first thing we are interested in is My Hoa tofu skin. The craft village has existed for over 100 years. We plan to invite a representative of a household to come here to demonstrate the processing method, and at the same time prepare dishes made from tofu skin: soy milk, noodles with added tofu skin, stir-fried tofu skin or goat hotpot with tofu skin... to serve tourists.

Question: Besides bean curd, do you have any plans for other culinary specialties in Vinh Long?

Answer: What we are concerned about is that local specialties have not been directly supplied to tourists coming to Vinh Long, but are currently only for commercial purposes. Tourists buy local specialties along the roadside, without ensuring the origin, affecting the reputation of Vinh Long specialties and not ensuring food hygiene and safety.


MINUTES NO. 3

Interview with Mr. NCT at 2:00 p.m. on September 25, 2019 at the Vinh Long Province Tourism Promotion Information Center.

Question: With your experience in promoting culinary in Vinh Long over the years, please tell us about the advantages and difficulties in exploiting this product in culinary.

Answer: Over the years, we have promoted local culinary specialties at tourism events in Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho. In these places, tourists love them and buy a lot, but we have encountered some difficulties:

- Fresh fruit cannot be preserved for long.

- Specialties are culinary ingredients that tourists do not care about because they like to try eating or drinking before buying.

- Production facilities are familiar with the commercial business model. Although there is financial support for facilities participating in tourism events, they are still not enthusiastic about participating.

Question: What do you think about building unique tourism products from local culinary specialties?

Answer: Building unique tourism products is an important goal and strategy for tourism development. Local culinary specialties are a tourism resource with great potential. However, with the current situation of saltwater intrusion, there is a risk of reducing the productivity and output of natural specialties. This is the biggest challenge if exploiting this type of tourism.


MINUTES NO. 4

Interview with Ms. VTKP at 10:00 a.m. on September 22, 2020 at the People's Committee of Thuan An commune, Binh Minh district.

Question: How many hectares of watercress are there in your area?

Answer: The area of ​​watercress cultivation in Thuan An commune is 132 hectares. The most concentrated area is in Thuan An commune, Binh Minh district with 110 hectares, this is considered the largest watercress growing area in the Mekong Delta. The distinctive feature of Thuan An watercress is the small stem. Due to the suitability of the soil, the cabbage grown here is a bit spicy, crunchy, sweet, and has the right taste of watercress.

Question: Who was the first person to plant this tree here?

Answer: Watercress first appeared in this area when Mr. Hai Hanh in Thuan Thoi hamlet, Thuan An commune brought it from another locality to try planting. Realizing that the plant was suitable for the soil and had a delicious taste, the local people propagated it and formed a large specialized cultivation area as it is today.

Question: Is the output of watercress guaranteed by traders or do farmers have to find it themselves?

Answer: Output, traders guarantee to consume all daily output, consumed in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta provinces, not imported abroad because the preservation time is not long.

Question: How much does watercress cost?

Answer: Retail price is about 20,000 VND/kg, price for traders is about 15,000 VND/kg.

Question: Before being separated, Binh Minh and Binh Tan districts were the same district. Have you heard of the dish raw sweet potato with fish sauce?

Answer: I heard my father say that sweet potatoes are grown a lot in the Southwest region because after only a few months of planting, they have tubers to eat and can be processed into many dishes: grilled, steamed with rice, cooked with sweet soup, boiled, dried for storage, mixed with rice or can be eaten instead of rice during wartime. During the war, raw sweet potatoes were often eaten together and later, after the war, people still ate them when going to the fields because it was convenient. This dish became a specialty of Vinh Long province, the main reason is probably because sweet potatoes in this land are more delicious than those in other localities. This dish is best when rolled with cassia leaves.


MINUTES NO. 5

Interview with Mr. NVT at 10:00 a.m. on September 15, 2020 at Bay Trung homestay, An Binh commune, Long Ho district.

Question: What dishes does your homestay serve to guests?

Answer: I serve many dishes, not a fixed menu like other homestays because most of the guests here are independent tourists who do not buy tours or follow any groups. So whenever there is something delicious, I cook it to treat the guests: sour soup with snakehead fish, sour soup with shrimp, braised fish, braised ribs, fried fish, fried shrimp, chicken salad porridge...

Question: As a homestay that specializes in serving international guests and has received many compliments from visitors about its food and drinks, when preparing dishes, do you change the spices to suit the tastes of international guests?

Answer: No. I season according to my family's normal taste. I just don't serve fish sauce dishes: braised fish sauce, raw fish sauce, steamed fish sauce... because these dishes have a strong smell, and I'm afraid it will upset my guests' stomachs, so I don't dare.

Question: Which dish do customers like the most among the dishes you cook?

Answer: Sour soup and boiled dishes.

Delicious sour soup must ensure the following elements: Harmony between sweet, salty, sour, and spicy flavors; vegetables cooked in sour soup must not be overcooked, still retaining the crispness of each type; meat and fish must be cooked enough to avoid being too tough or too soft; and a combination of colorful ingredients.

To cook the right sour soup, the pineapple must be sauteed first until fragrant, then use the noodle soup (because the broth is bone broth, dried shrimp and dried squid, so it is very sweet) to cook the soup for the best taste. For animals such as shrimp, prawns, the sourness from lemon should be used. Lemon should only be added to the broth after all the ingredients have been cooked and the heat has been turned off to avoid the appearance of astringency, at the same time, shrimp and prawns combined with lemon will become soft and mushy. Therefore, after boiling the shrimp, you must take it out and then add the vegetables and lemon juice as the last ingredient, when eating, decorate the surface of the soup to make it look nice.

For boiled animals, the pot of water must have MSG or seasoning powder added. The water for boiling beef and goat must have crushed lemongrass and ginger; chicken, duck, and pork must be left whole to retain its original sweetness. When cooked, take it out, let it cool, and chop or tear it into bite-sized pieces. To test the doneness, Vietnamese people use chopsticks to pierce the meat. If red liquid appears, the meat is not cooked. For boiled plants, put them in when the pot of water is boiling. After boiling, rinse with cold water or ice to help keep the beautiful color.


MINUTES NO. 6

Interview with Ms. NTHN at 7:00 a.m. on September 15, 2020 at Nam Thanh homestay. Question: At your homestay, do you usually prioritize available menus or randomly respond to guests' requests?

Answer: Most of the customers who buy tours (both international and domestic) prefer the available menu. Some tourists request to enjoy special dishes: snakes, birds, rats, bats... but the owner

mainly domestic customers. For international customers, these dishes are often requested to see each stage of preparation until the finished product and enjoy, so there will be two opposite effects: one is to enjoy and eat a lot, the other is to be afraid because of the way the ingredients are processed: smashing the head, peeling the skin, cutting open the stomach... so customers eat very little or do not eat that dish.

Question: What dishes do you usually cook for tourists?

Answer: Here, I often let tourists cook banh xeo. But the banh xeo is small enough for only one person because Western guests do not like to eat the same portion as others. Because guests do not have time, I have to prepare it in advance. Guests only need to fry the cake.

Question: What do you think about the attitude of tourists when participating in cooking activities at homestay?

Answer: Local food preparation activities are very well received by tourists. However, the implementation depends a lot on the tourists' free time because the tour program has been designed in advance. Therefore, culinary experiences are only supportive although tourists are very interested and want to do more.

Question: If you let tourists go to the market to buy food or go to the garden to pick vegetables and fish in the river and then let them cook the food themselves, and you are just the guide, do you think they will be excited to participate?

Answer: They really like it and they will definitely join. But I only apply it to tourists who travel on their own because buying a tour with a group of tourists does not give them much time to do it.

Question: What dishes should a daily meal have to be delicious and nutritious?

Answer: In my opinion, the word “delicious” should also imply “nutritious”. However, nowadays, in eating, there are foods that are delicious because of the way they are prepared to stimulate the taste buds but are not nutritious, and eating too much can even be harmful. There are also foods that are very nutritious but are only suitable for one person’s body, but not suitable for another person’s body. For example, when we were young, every time we reviewed for our final exams, my mother often cooked green bean and wood ear sweet soup with beef and blood cockle porridge for us to eat. My mother said that in the summer, eating green bean sweet soup is cool and refreshing, allowing us to study comfortably. Eating beef and blood cockle porridge is nutritious, giving us a clear mind and good results. When I grew up, I found out that my mother was right.

Question: What benefits do you think opening a homestay like this brings?

Answer: Since the province launched the homestay program, the households participating in family tourism have been very excited because they are participating and benefiting together. From the amateur music groups to the farmers on the island; especially some young people are willing to stay in the commune to work and participate in tourism, not leaving their hometowns to go to the city as much as before.


MINUTES NO. 7

Interview with Mr. NTD at 11:00 on September 23, 2020 at Vinh Sang tourist restaurant.

Question: Vinh Sang is most famous for its chicken hotpot (chicken cooked with chili). Can you share how to prepare this dish?

Answer: This dish is also simple: Clean the raw chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces. Saute the lemongrass, cut into pieces and mince the onion and garlic until fragrant, continue to put the pot of coconut water on the stove, season with sugar, salt, MSG, put the chicken in to boil until the chicken is cooked, then add the green chili, you must use the chili to create the strong aroma of the dish. Turn off the heat and add to the pot a mixture of lemon juice, a little good fish sauce, basil and take it off the heat. Do not add the lemon juice early because it will have an astringent taste. The characteristic of this dish is mainly the use of basil leaves, can be combined with mint, water spinach and banana blossom.

Question: So, according to you, what conditions are needed to make a delicious chicken hotpot?

Answer: To make this dish, you must use free-range chicken weighing about 1.5kg - 1.7kg so that the meat is sweet and tender. Clean the chicken and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Saute garlic, onion, and lemongrass with chicken fat instead of cooking oil (this way the chicken will be fragrant and have a beautiful golden color). When the chicken is firm, add fresh coconut water and cook until just cooked, season and turn off the stove. Add lemon juice to the broth (you must turn off the stove before adding lemon juice to avoid bitterness). When eating, add basil leaves and combine with vermicelli.

Question: I heard your family has a tradition of being chefs. Do you know if rich families used to have their own chefs?

Answer: According to my grandparents, in the past, landlords and factory owners had their own chefs, and their daily meals consisted of at least 5-6 dishes or more. Each dish was elaborately prepared with rare seasonal specialties. They ate in a private dining room with servants. Most of them were influenced by French culture, so their meals were also very elaborate!

Question: So is your family any different from other families in terms of daily meals?

Answer: I heard that in the past, my family was quite well-off in the neighborhood. We ate together every day. But when my grandfather was invited by his father (great-grandfather) to come to our house to teach him how to play the zither, he ate separately from the men in the house upstairs. From teaching to eating, he always wore a proper ao dai. My grandmother and her children ate in the house downstairs so it was more comfortable.


MINUTES NO. 8

Interview with Mr. VTK at 7:00 a.m. on September 22, 2020 at Cuu Long A restaurant, Ward 1, Vinh Long city, Vinh Long province.

Question: As the head chef of Cuu Long A restaurant, what do you think about the taste of Western people?

Answer: Westerners, especially Vinh Long, prefer sweets, so local dishes must be more sweet. We mainly use coconut water, rock sugar, vegetables, or animal bones for this sweetener. We limit the use of granulated sugar and MSG because they are not good for health.

Question: Is the taste different for international guests than for domestic guests?

Answer: For international guests, we season the food blander than for domestic guests, and do not use as many spices as domestic guests.

Question: As a trained chef, how many fermentation methods are there in cooking and which method is the most popular?

Answer: There are three main fermentation methods: lactic fermentation, probiotic fermentation, and ethanol fermentation.

- Lactic fermentation: applied to fermenting dairy products: yogurt, sour milk... This is the process of converting sugar in milk into lactic acid after fermentation. In addition, this method is applied in pickling vegetables and fish sauces.

- Probionic fermentation: is the product of the conversion of lactic acid and lactate salts under the action of microorganisms. This method is applied to create bread.

- Ethanol fermentation: produces alcoholic beverages: beer, wine.

Of the three forms above, lactic fermentation is the most commonly used method, dominating fermented Vietnamese dishes, which are classified into two groups:

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