Is Tet getting bland?

Many people say 'Tet nowadays is bland, not like in the past', is it true that Tet nowadays is blander than in the past - when everything was difficult and lacking?

Tet in a "four-generation" family

During these days of Lunar New Year, the family of Ms. Le Thi Chau Minh, residing in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, is bustling and excited. Before Tet, she, her husband, and their daughters clean and decorate the house, shop, and cook delicious dishes. In particular, the whole family gathers to wrap Chung cakes and stays up all night to watch the pot of Chung cakes cook.

Chau Minh's family celebrates Tet

Chau Minh's family has two children. The younger one is Tran Hoang Thai Binh , a 9th grader at An Nhon Secondary School, Go Vap District. The older one is Tran Hoang Minh An, an 11th grader at Tran Cao Van High School, Go Vap District. "I want to help my children understand Tet and the customs of Vietnamese people through this banh chung wrapping activity. Although there is no shortage of goods now, goods are readily available in supermarkets and traditional markets, the feeling of the whole family happily wrapping banh chung, waiting for the pot of banh chung to cook, while eating and chatting happily will be a memorable memory for my children," Chau Minh shared.

Both paternal and maternal families live in Ho Chi Minh City. During the first days of the new year, Chau Minh's whole family gathered to cook, wish each other a happy new year, and visit both sides of her family. On the first day of the new year, the whole family went to her maternal grandparents' house to wish each other a happy new year, then moved to her paternal grandparents' house. Chau Minh's maternal family is "four generations under one roof", four generations living together in one house: maternal grandparents, parents, her younger brother and his wife, and her younger brother and his wife's children. Her maternal grandparents are both over 90 years old this year but are still lucid, can walk by themselves, and eat moderately. They live very affectionately, love each other, and still affectionately call each other "brother - sister".

Ms. Chau Minh wraps Tet banh chung with her children and grandchildren.

Chau Minh's younger brother teaches his daughter how to make a Tet banh chung cake.

"Early in the morning of the first day, all the children and grandchildren were present at my grandparents' house. The atmosphere was bustling and the happiest of the year. Children gave lucky money to their grandparents, adults gave lucky money to their children, everyone visited each other after a hard year. The atmosphere of Tet was truly special," said Chau Minh.

"Our extended family has a tradition that during Tet, each family will make some delicious dishes. On the first day of Tet, I bring some delicious dishes to my maternal relatives' house to cook together, and the whole family gathers to eat. We always feel grateful that our family still has grandparents and parents. Tet is an opportunity for our children to understand family traditions, to appreciate and preserve traditional values ​​of the nation," Chau Minh confided. For that reason, for women of the 8X generation, Tet has never been boring. Every new year will bring new emotions, leaving beautiful memories in the hearts of each child in the family.

Join hands to make Tet more special

Lecturer, Master Bui Thi Minh Thuy, member of the Center for Research, Preservation and Development of Culinary Arts of Ho Chi Minh City, believes that every member of the family can contribute to making the family's Tet holiday warmer, from small things like cooking together, contributing to making family reunion meals.

Under the blooming peach blossoms, families are busy making cakes to celebrate Tet.

Students have been busy all year with studying and taking exams at school, the holidays are the ideal time to cook together. In the age of technology development like today, it is not difficult for you to go online to learn, explore traditional dishes, create, change dishes, prepare familiar dishes in a more modern way but still retain the old flavor.

You can ask your grandparents and parents about the meaning of each dish, how to prepare it, then go to the market together, choose fresh ingredients, learn about the types of vegetables and fruits for Tet. Family members participate in the preparation, washing vegetables, cutting meat, mixing spices... and then learn cooking skills together. For example, the whole family wraps banh chung, braises meat with eggs, makes banh xeo... Starting with simple tasks such as beating eggs, mixing flour, marinating meat, gradually the children will be able to prepare familiar dishes themselves...

Tet is full of flavor when family members gather together to make dishes.

In particular, Tet holidays are the time to capture beautiful moments. The whole family cooks together, takes photos, records the process of preparing dishes and shares them on social networks. Children can also write diaries, record their feelings and thoughts about Tet holidays...

I write these lines amidst the traditional scent of incense, the fragrant smell of cooking food, the sound of my grandchildren playing as they prepare to wrap banh chung and beside the pale pink peach blossoms. The feeling is hard to describe, still as nostalgic as when I was 10 years old, waiting for Tet to eat delicious candies and receive lucky money.

Whether Tet is strong or weak depends on each person's perspective. Lunar New Year still comes back once a year. There is still New Year's Eve, three days of Tet. But maybe the people sitting next to us enjoying tea and flowers this Tet are different from many previous Tets. How we look at Tet, what we do, how we really live in those moments will make Tet weak or strong in our hearts.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tet-co-nhat-di-185250127181246964.htm