Countryside food

Throughout my childhood, I followed my mother to many parties in and outside the village, in the family. In those days and even now, in many rural areas, adults often bring their children along when they go to parties. There are many parties in the countryside, such as weddings, housewarmings, full-month celebrations for children and grandchildren, death anniversaries, etc. When we children first learned that we would be following our mother to parties, we were all very excited.

Before school, we woke up early, after breakfast we would chatter around our mother, waiting for her to clean up, do some chores, then happily and excitedly follow her to the party. Later, when we were old enough to go to school, we still went to school in the morning but all day we were excited and happy because after school we would go to the party at noon.

At most parties, my mother came to help prepare the food. However, depending on the close relationship between the two families, she would come early to help with everything, or come halfway through the day to help. At some parties, my mother would come the afternoon before to help the host prepare the food. Following my mother to prepare the food, in addition to the main meal, my siblings and I also got to enjoy side dishes. They were called "side dishes" but to us back then, they were just as delicious as the main meal.

Illustration photo.

For weddings of neighbors or relatives, the day before, the mother came over to help boil water to make pork, pick vegetables, peel potatoes, peel green bananas to cook, etc. The uncles, the group set up the tent, set up tables and chairs; the group prepared pork, pounded ham, chopped bones... the sound of knives and chopping boards, and the bustling conversation filled a corner of the village. Weddings in the countryside always have a feast before the wedding day, called the "tent-setting" feast. Most of the family members who eat the "tent-setting" feast are relatives. The food cooked for the "tent-setting" feast is usually dishes that are not included in the main feast and mainly includes pig intestines and pig's heart. Pigs raised to serve the family feast should be taken care of and fed clean vegetables, so the dishes after being prepared are very delicious. As the first meal, and eaten while still hot, the "tent-setting" feast, even though it only has a plate of intestines, a plate of boiled pig's heart, cooked dishes, stir-fried dishes, and broth for boiled intestines; The adult tray has blood pudding served with herbs, including basil... but everyone who eats it finds it extremely delicious. Although we are busy having fun, by the evening, when we smell the fragrant smell of the dishes, we know that everyone has finished preparing the "tent"... Like my brothers and I, many other parents who come to help with the feast bring their children with them. In the country feasts, there is always a tray of children and they are almost always arranged to eat first because they are worried that they will be hungry early because they are active, and they are fed so that the adults have free hands to help the feast. The children's tray eats and quarrels, sometimes having to assign an adult to sit in and "command".

The main dishes of an old wedding usually had a plate of boiled chicken, pork roll, fatty pork roll, mixed pork roll, bamboo shoot soup, potato soup, banana soup, stir-fried beef, sticky rice, etc. Later, when the economic life developed, the dishes had more dishes such as: boiled shrimp, steamed fish, stir-fried squid, stewed pigeon, etc. The dishes were often decorated to be both attractive and aesthetically pleasing. The dishes at death anniversaries, housewarmings, and full-month celebrations for children, etc. were simpler, but basically still had to have boiled chicken, pork roll, sticky rice, and cooked and stir-fried dishes.

In the past, due to economic difficulties, meat was only available during Tet, death anniversaries, or festivals. Therefore, for children like us, being able to follow our mothers and grandmothers to feasts was even more exciting, because we could both eat delicious food and have fun. In many rural areas, in the past and now, there is a custom of going to feasts to take a portion. This custom is actually very meaningful. Except for close relatives, really close friends, and big events, only families go together, the rest of the invited families only "assign" one adult, who can "accompany" the children to feasts. And the fact that people who go to feasts take a portion home for the people at home shows affection and care for each other. This also makes the host happy when everyone finishes the food.

A rustic feast with agricultural products from fields and gardens, pigs in barns, free-range chickens, is extremely delicious. A rustic feast is a custom, a habit, and also a culture of the rural people. People come to share joy at weddings, housewarmings, and full-month celebrations for children and grandchildren. People come to express condolences at funerals, to remember the deceased at death anniversaries, exhumations, etc. Inviting a meal is the host's sincerity to express gratitude, and to strengthen the relationship between neighbors and relatives. Most of the people who come to a feast do not just come to eat, but they come early to help the host prepare the feast, relatives and close friends help the host receive guests, and then clean up. That is sharing and helping - a good tradition in the countryside. A rustic feast not only helps the agricultural products from fields, ponds, gardens, and barns, created by the diligent hands of farmers, to flourish, but also shows the ingenuity and creativity of the rural people through creating delicious and attractive dishes; is the bond of village love and neighborliness... so that generations born and raised in the countryside, no matter where they go or what they do, in their beautiful childhood memories will always have loving memories of the times they followed their mother and grandmother to parties.

Do Hong

Source: https://baohanam.com.vn/van-hoa/co-que-149239.html