Food festival sells a lot of fried fish balls, what do the organizers say?

On October 27, the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association and the Organizing Committee of the "Promoting Vietnamese Culinary Culture" Festival met with the press to provide more information about the event that took place last weekend at Thong Nhat Hall (Ho Chi Minh City).

The festival has a total of 90 culinary booths from different regions introducing typical dishes to tourists and residents of Ho Chi Minh City.

Food stalls are one of the festival's activities, including the announcement of a cooking competition and the display of 126 dishes on the Vietnam Cuisine Map.

The record of Vietnam Cuisine Map with 126 dishes was also set, displaying for the first time unique and attractive dishes of regional cuisines across the country.

However, visitors reported that there were many stalls selling fried fish balls, sausages, and various types of meat skewers, foods that can be "found anywhere"...

The organizers said that 7 out of 90 booths at the festival registered to sell street food, including fried fish balls, sausages, skewers...

Speaking to reporters, Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, said that there were only 7 street food stalls located in the entrance of area D of the festival, but the display of so many stalls made festival visitors feel overwhelmed.

According to Ms. Khanh, this ratio in the total of 90 booths of the whole festival event is not too much. Fish balls, sausages, meat skewers... are street foods, meeting the needs from common to high-end of visitors.

"Street food is part of the cuisine, and some booths have been registered for the festival. However, there are booths registered for banh xeo and banh khot; at the festival, these booths display street food including fish balls, beef balls, and meat skewers outside, banh xeo displayed inside, and only when someone buys them will they make the cakes... However, the organizers will learn from experience for the next time," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh.

The unique feature of the festival is the Vietnamese Cuisine Map with 126 typical dishes from each region.

Regarding the feedback on the high prices of noodle and pho dishes, the quality is not good, the price is high, the representative of the organizing committee said that they will take note to improve in the upcoming festivals. In return, many other regional specialties are popular such as: pho, Hanoi fish cakes, Soc Trang noodle soup...

Some places such as the Central Highlands, Northwest, and Mekong Delta also want to bring their specialties to participate, but preservation conditions do not allow it or due to rain and floods, affecting travel.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association, the organizers always remind the stalls not to increase prices, ensure quality and commit to ensuring food safety and hygiene. The festival has attracted about 50,000 visitors, contributing to promoting and honoring the culinary culture of the region and the whole country.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/tp-hcm-le-hoi-am-thuc-ban-nhieu-ca-vien-chien-ban-to-chuc-noi-gi-20231027130601865.htm