Tet comes, bringing with it the distant memories of many old Tet seasons. It seems that each passing Tet leaves more memories in people's hearts. And so, the memories accumulate into a stream, imprinted in the subconscious and each new Tet season cannot lack the shadow of the Tets that have passed.
It is not for nothing that people call it "Tet"
The traditional Tet holiday of the Vietnamese people has a long history, marking the moment of transition between the old year and the new year. Tet brings a new spring, full of faith and beautiful hopes. The closer to Tet, the more bustling and exciting the atmosphere becomes. Mother's hands are full of offerings, father's hands are meticulously trimming trees and the baby's delicate hands are happily opening to receive bright red lucky money envelopes.
Tet brings a new spring, full of faith and beautiful hopes.
That traditional holiday sows in people's hearts gratitude to heaven and earth regardless of whether life is lacking or abundant. Tet brings with it the cold and drizzle, the solitude and the nostalgic atmosphere of people gathering to watch the pot of banh chung, and the sound of firecrackers exploding. During those three days of Tet, the focus is still on the feasts. That's why the ancients concluded "full for three days of Tet".
In the old days, when Vietnamese people celebrated Tet with many rituals and elaborate things, the Tet feast was not simple. The most basic thing was that the feast offered to the ancestors had to have four bowls and four plates to show respect. The four bowls usually included a bowl of bamboo shoot soup with a few strands of vermicelli, a vermicelli noodle soup with cauliflower and carrots in season, a bowl of fragrant vermicelli with chicken gizzards, and a bowl of fin soup made from fish bladder, fish intestines, or fish fins, and bird's nest fins. In the past, fin soup was a dish for wealthy families because of its rare ingredients. More modest families often replaced this dish with a bowl of stewed pigeon with lotus seeds or mushroom soup.
The four dishes cannot lack the stir-fried almond dish for the elderly to enjoy with wine, the now-lost moc van am dish, the green sticky rice cake dish, and the golden boiled chicken dish. In addition, the pork roll dish, fried pork roll, cinnamon sausage, sticky rice with gac fruit, stir-fried vegetables... also contribute to increasing the sumptuousness of the Tet tray. It seems like there are many dishes but there is nothing left over.
Because at that time, every house was full of children and grandchildren, every Tet was full of gatherings. The food was always gone. Adults invited each other to have a few glasses of warm wine, children eagerly awaited the meal. The Tet meal was delicious and warm. A little fragrant sticky rice with sweet bamboo shoot soup made everyone smile brightly.
In the old days of the 30th of Tet, every family had to prepare the pot of banh chung. The cakes were taken out early and hung up to dry. The peach and kumquat trees in the house were also beautifully and brightly displayed. Two firecrackers were hung in front of the house for the sacred and meaningful New Year's Eve moment. In the kitchen, the atmosphere was really busy. Stacks of new dishes were hidden away, just waiting for Tet to be brought out to be washed and polished to be used for the first few days of the year.
Tet was like that in the past, all preparations were carefully calculated. Each person had their own task, the grandmother was busy tasting the bamboo shoot soup, the mother was slicing the ham, the sister was peeling the banh chung... No one dared to be late or rest because the time for the New Year's Eve meal was approaching. The last meal of the year, marking a year of hard work and labor. Everyone gathered to eat the meal, both as a way to rest and to encourage and remind each other before entering the new year.
This Tet, thanks to modern life, industrialization and the rise of consumer habits, the hustle and bustle of Tet has gradually changed. Nowadays, in the city, we rarely see scenes of rushing to wrap banh chung, wrap gio, and prepare food trays from early morning. Everything is available at the market, at the supermarket, and even with just a phone call, the "shipper" can deliver it to your door. Many housewives have a chance to truly rest and also reduce their old habits.
Nowadays, people value comfort and fun more than the "must-have" customs of the past. The new cycle of heaven and earth, of the hustle and bustle of modern life, drags people into a lot of stress. For many people, Tet is an opportunity to travel, to relax and temporarily escape from life. At this time, the three meals a day during the three days of Tet are no longer boiled chicken, bamboo shoot soup, but sometimes... a piece of pizza, a plate of Italian pasta or a luxurious fine dining meal. It is warm enough, enjoyable and timely, even trendy.
Tet for young people and modern, integrated adults is no longer confined.
Tet for young people and even modern, integrated adults is no longer confined to four bowls and four plates, high trays of food that two people can carry without stopping. Nowadays, the trays of food are also somewhat minimalist. A plate of banh chung, a plate of boiled chicken, a bowl of bamboo shoot soup and a bowl of vermicelli is still enough to complete the meal. There is something that is still truly Tet, truly traditional, yet so light. This silent shift is inevitable when life is increasingly filled with new things. Tet suddenly becomes light and bland, and sometimes people forget how excited they used to be about it.
After all, the traditional Tet holiday once again revives with its sweet flavor and sacred value. The flavor of the old Tet is something we cannot imitate, nor can we recreate, we can only find ways to practice it according to the little memories left in our memory. Tet and its highest value lies in the warm reunion when it is cold outside and the buds of spring are budding. At that time, how can we not have a hot tray of food and an abundance of candy, fruit, and soft drinks.
It is not by chance that people call the action during Tet "eating Tet". Over four thousand years of history, from the most ancient Tet when people still offered Chung cake and Day cake to complete a pair of heaven and earth to offer to the gods above, to the prosperous Tet banquets filled with delicious and strange foods, the rule of "four bowls and four plates" has sometimes had to give way to the grandeur, luxury, or unique and innovative Tet trays of today. There are so many forms, so many versions and so many creations of the human mind, but the ultimate core is still "eating Tet". It is like a way of affirming that people cannot do without "eating" on the important occasion of heaven and earth, of the calendar, of the concept of people living with the habit of wet rice.
Because the ancient times were closely linked to the rice life, Vietnamese people also had to find a way to celebrate Tet in a suitable way, depending on the land, the seasons, the climate... For example, why is a bowl of bamboo shoot soup so suitable for a Tet meal? Because bamboo shoots are imbued with the flavor of the land and time, and are only best in winter and spring. At this time, take each piece of crispy dried bamboo shoots and soak them in rice water until soft, then cook them with pork leg meat, what could be more delicious and suitable?
A bowl of bamboo shoot soup eaten in the summer is bad, because the bamboo shoots are bland and the meat is easily boring, it cannot be compared with the cold air that chills to the bone, each spoonful of bamboo shoot soup with the fragrant taste of meat flowing down the throat makes people unable to forget. Also during the Tet season, eating a piece of sticky rice cake with fragrant fatty meat and fatty green beans is so delicious. Or a plate of jellied meat and pickled onions also makes the Tet meal more special. So, the way to celebrate Tet cannot be too haphazard or unconventional, but should still follow reasonable things to harmonize both the past and the present.
Every time Tet comes, we feel more clearly the simplicity of the kitchen and meals. But even though the dishes are reduced, the trays and bowls are lighter, the role and sacred value of the Tet tray is still something we need to keep. The soul of each person, the joy and happiness of each family in the spring scene cannot lack this spiritual value.
