When fuel was scarce, straw was stored in the countryside for year-round cooking. Straw was often piled up in the corner of the yard or garden, and after the harvest, the straw was cut and stacked in a cone shape right on the field, waiting for it to dry before being carried home and stacked neatly.
Piles of straw and stubble in the house are very precious, becoming an indispensable image in every house in the countryside. There are piles of straw that have been stored from one crop to another, even higher than the roof. Therefore, there are families where, near Tet, their children come home to play and "conveniently" burn the grandparents' straw pile, making the children "lose Tet"...
Straw smoke is different from smoke from straw, it is dense and stings the eyes. On a drizzly day, the smoke from the straw stove only lingers on the thatched roof and then falls down to the front yard without rising.
In that small, shabby kitchen, there were grandmothers and mothers busily cooking. Every time they smelled the smoke from the straw, they could guess what they would be eating today. Even though it was simple, it was cozy and delicious.
I remember when we were poor, my family lived in the countryside but had no fields, so besides sweeping leaves and collecting firewood for fuel, we also had to beg and collect straw after each harvest to bring home. On wet days, the straw was difficult to burn, and the smoke was even thicker. After boiling a pot of water for my father to serve guests, his face was already covered in tears and snot.
The straw stove is always an important part of every family. Seeing the straw stove still on fire means that this family still has rice, seeing the smell of cooking coming from that kitchen means that this family is well-off. Especially during Tet, the straw stove is on fire all day long. If you go to a house and hear that every Tet holiday, you receive guests using 10 thermoses of Rang Dong water, you know that family is respected in the village. Before Tet, the straw stove is already on fire with a pot of boiling banh chung. In that kitchen, there is also a straw nest with some grandchildren watching the banh chung waiting for the morning to inhale the flavor that only comes once a year.
Photo: Huyen Anh
Early in the morning on the first day of Tet, the sound of firecrackers exploded all over the village. I crawled out of my warm blanket, walked through the dirt yard in the misty drizzle and arrived at the warm kitchen. There, my mother was cooking and preparing the first morning meal. Just a piece of ham, a square of banh chung, a bowl of vermicelli with dried bamboo shoots, and a plate of boiled chicken were enough for Tet.
Straw stoves are rare now, and there is no longer a scene of children gathering around to watch the pot of banh chung boil. In the countryside, straw has been replaced by induction cookers, gas stoves, and electric stoves. If a child in the countryside were to cook rice with a straw stove, he probably wouldn't know how to watch the fire so the rice would be cooked. And food is much more plentiful and abundant than before.
Children in the countryside are not interested in eating and drinking, and no longer wish for new clothes, so Tet now does not have as much flavor as Tet in the past. In the countryside, more and more families do not make banh chung but order in advance, so Tet does not leave many images or opportunities for each child to learn about traditional Tet.
In recent years, many families in the city have gathered together to make pigs and wrap banh chung, so that their children can experience a part of the traditional Tet flavor, so that they can immerse themselves in the lingering, acrid smoke.
The other day when I went back to my hometown, I walked around the neighborhood and there was absolutely no straw stove left. Instead of each shabby straw stove, there were bright, modern dining rooms. But in the corner of the dirt yard, there was still the image of a straw stove with a warm winter fire, with smoke drifting down to the ground under a thin layer of mist.
Tet is coming, I miss the straw kitchen in the drizzling rain...
TIEN HUYSource
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