Cuisine as cultural identity

Shan Tuyet tea making demonstration in community tourism space, bringing a unique experience of tea culture in the highlands of Tuyen Quang.

Distilling the essence from hardship

Tuyen Quang - a place where 22 ethnic groups live together, possesses a rich and unique culinary treasure, the most unique in the Northern mountainous region. Each dish not only reflects the natural conditions but also marks the vitality, knowledge and enduring adaptability of the ethnic communities. Amidst the sharp, rocky mountains, cold climate, and limited productive land, the Mong, Dao, Tay, Lo Lo... ethnic groups have learned to distill the quintessence from hardship to create dishes that feed people and foster the cultural identity of the highlands.

Meals of the highlanders start with the most familiar things: corn kernels, rice grains, bamboo shoots, wild vegetables, chickens, stream fish... But hidden behind that simplicity is a treasure trove of indigenous knowledge. The Mong people are attached to corn plants on the barren highlands, so men men and corn pho have become culinary symbols associated with the life and culture of the village. Mr. Lai Quoc Tinh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of H'Mong Village Resort, said: "Ngo pho is our creation, inspired by men men - the golden food" that feeds the Mong people. We combine the quintessence of Mong ethnic cuisine with the soul of Vietnamese pho to create a unique product. Pho is the national spirit, and corn is the soul of the highlands. When combining these two values, we not only create a dish, but also position the identity through flavor, giving visitors the key to touch the source of Mong culture".

Not only the Mong, each community has its own choice of dishes based on knowledge and natural conditions. The Dao are famous for their medicinal diet: Chicken stewed with medicinal leaves, fish stewed with forest leaves, and fermented leaf wine - dishes that are both delicious and healthy. The Tay are sophisticated in the way they prepare Khao cakes, humpbacked Chung cakes, and five-color sticky rice - dishes that reflect the philosophy of the five elements and the belief in a bountiful harvest. Meanwhile, the Lo Lo use smoked meat, smoked sausages, and buckwheat cakes to preserve the flavor of the mountains and forests through the winter, while preserving the traditional lifestyle of the community.

Besides dishes rich in indigenous knowledge, Tuyen Quang also stands out with its typical drinks, closely linked to nature and community life, becoming a symbol of highland culture. Among them, ancient Shan Tuyet tea is known as the "green gold" of the mountains and forests, a product growing on peaks thousands of meters high, covered with clouds all year round, tea buds covered with snow-white fur. When brewed, the water is golden yellow, with a light astringent taste and a deep sweet aftertaste; each cup of tea not only nourishes the body but also conveys the soul of the mountains, the intelligence and the resilient spirit of the highland people. Besides Shan Tuyet tea, the Dao, Tay and Mong people also use forest leaf water - wormwood leaves, sweet grass leaves, and forest roots to make daily drinks to cool down, aid digestion, and prevent diseases, becoming a treasure trove of indigenous medical knowledge preserved through many generations. The combination of Shan Tuyet tea and Meo Vac Mint honey or Phuc Son honey also creates unique drinks, both delicious and rich in cultural value, especially loved by tourists.

Homestay owners in Ha Giang 1 ward show off their cooking skills at the Tay Ethnic Cultural Festival.

Moreover, from the small kitchens of ethnic minorities, many local products have been awarded OCOP stars and geographical indications, becoming prestigious brands in the market such as: Gù Chung cake, Tam giac mach cake, Vang beef, Sành Ham Yen orange, Shan tuyet tea... Particularly, Men men, Au tau porridge, Thang co, and cap nach pork are also in the Top 100 Vietnamese specialties; Shan tuyet tea, Tam giac mach cake, seedless persimmons are also in the Top 100 Vietnamese specialty gifts, showing the attractiveness of highland cuisine to tourists.

"Keep the fire" in every dish

On an early winter afternoon, in a small, smoky kitchen in Na Tong village, Thuong Lam commune, Mrs. Trieu Thi Xuong, a Tay woman, was busy rekindling the wood stove that she had been attached to for more than half her life. The fire was glowing red, the wood was crackling, and the story about highland cuisine began. “If you want to understand the people of the highlands, you have to sit next to the stove and watch them cook,” Mrs. Xuong smiled kindly, her eyes narrowing behind the smoke.

Mrs. Xuong said that each dish of the Tay people is associated with a season, a rhythm of life of the mountains and forests. Five-color sticky rice only fully exudes the soul of the mountains and forests when the color of the sticky rice is dyed from the essence of natural leaves and roots and cooked with pure water from the source; sour pork must be kept in enough sun and wind to bring out its flavor; ant egg cake is only available when the forest is in season, when black ants make nests; as for wild banana flowers steamed with fig leaves, the Tay people say that it is a dish to "retain the scent of the forest" during the rainy days, and the stinky vegetable and egg roll is the taste of hard work in the morning going to the fields, and in the afternoon gathering a few handfuls of vegetables, cracking a chicken egg to make a warm meal for the whole family.

In the highlands, the kitchen is not just for cooking. It is a place to pass on skills, where children listen to their grandmothers tell fairy tales, where men discuss the harvest, and where women teach each other the secrets of wine making, meat marinating, and leaf fermentation. During the cold winter days, the kitchen is the only gathering place that keeps the whole house warm.

Mr. Hong Mi Sinh, from the Pa Vi Ha Community Cultural Tourism Village, Meo Vac Commune, is affectionately called “the keeper of the Mong kitchen soul” by the locals. For more than half his life, he has devoted himself to preserving the traditional culinary flavors of his people, from steaming pots of thang co, golden bowls of men men to jars of corn wine with leaf glaze... “Tourists come here not only to fill their stomachs, but also to understand why each dish appears on the tray, carrying the story, knowledge and soul of the mountains and forests,” Mr. Sinh said.

From these simple dishes, tourists understand more about the lifestyle, beliefs and spirit of the highlanders. They eat thang co to hear stories about the market; taste Au tau porridge to feel the philosophy of hard work and perseverance; look at the pieces of meat hanging over the kitchen to see traces of the harsh winter; sit by the fire to feel the warmth of humanity. Cuisine is therefore not just a taste, but a living cultural map, preserved not by museums but by everyday life.

Tuyen Quang possesses a rich and unique culinary treasure, the most unique in the northern mountainous region.

From small village meals to cultural "ambassadors"

In traditional houses, village meals, which were originally reserved for families and communities, have now stepped out of the daily living space, becoming cultural “ambassadors”, bringing the highland identity to tourists. The emergence of community homestays has opened a new “stage” for highland cuisine. Many homestays such as Hoang Tuan (Thuong Lam commune), Danh House (Lung Cu commune), Hong Thu homestay, Quan Ba commune… proactively bring cooking experiences into tourism services.

Experiences such as making men men, marinating meat in the kitchen, cooking thang co with local herbs, wrapping banh chung Gu... make the highland cuisine become lively, close and attractive to tourists. Ms. Duong My Thien, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City shared: "At Homestay Nam Dip and Ban Bon, Lam Binh commune, we were invited by the host to eat five-color sticky rice, pick wild vegetables, and cook traditional dishes of the Tay people. Through the practical experience, I had an interesting journey, both satisfying my taste buds and discovering the treasure trove of indigenous knowledge, customs and life philosophy of the highland people".

To improve service quality, many localities have organized cooking classes, helping people improve their service skills and preserve the quintessence of traditional cuisine. Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ha Giang 1 Ward, Le Xuan Manh, said: "In the ward, there are currently 4 community cultural tourism villages with nearly 50 households providing homestay services. Experts, artisans - local culinary masters play the role of real teachers. They meticulously guide each step, from choosing ingredients to processing, presentation, and at the same time recounting stories, knowledge and cultural values associated with each flavor.

Thanks to that, visitors not only witness the cooking process but also feel the rhythm of life, intelligence and spirit of the mountains and forests blending in each grain of sticky rice, piece of cake and smoke from the kitchen - a profound experience that goes beyond the taste buds."

Tuyen Quang cuisine is a priceless cultural asset. Each dish is not only a flavor but also a story about indigenous knowledge and the strong vitality of the highland community. Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Thi Hoai shared: In order for cuisine to become a cultural "ambassador", the industry has been implementing a comprehensive and professional transformation strategy. The focus is on creating experiences, shifting from selling food to selling cultural experience tours, extending the length of stay of tourists; developing a clean ingredient supply chain, attaching OCOP stars, geographical indications and preserving traditional recipes; organizing culinary festivals to position Tuyen Quang cuisine on the Vietnamese culinary map...

Each dish in the highlands of Tuyen Quang is not only a flavor, but also a story about indigenous knowledge, the strong vitality and creative spirit of the ethnic people. Preserving the dishes is to preserve the cultural source and identity of the community. When a small meal becomes a tourism "ambassador", that is when the people and the land of the highlands are most fully present to friends from all over the world - with the incense smoke of the mountain stove, with the local sincerity and with the unmistakable cultural depth.

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