Vietnamese cuisine conquers the world

In a recent interview of young Thai actor Pond Panavit, an answer made thousands of Vietnamese fans "excited". "Which restaurant would you take your lover to on the first date?" - "If I have the chance, I will take you to eat Vietnamese food. I have tried it, Vietnamese salty bread is delicious!".

This is not the first time an international star has expressed his love for Vietnamese food.

About 3 years ago, Thai cinema began to strongly penetrate into Vietnam, especially targeting young people. With the lovely enthusiasm of Vietnamese fans, along with favorable geographical distance, Vietnam has become one of the top choices for Thai idol stars to organize fan meetings. Pond Panavit is one of the young artists who organized a fan meeting in Ho Chi Minh City more than a year ago, which was also the first time he set foot in Vietnam. Only staying for 2 short days, Pond learned many Vietnamese words, regularly interacted with Vietnamese fans, and always wanted to return to Vietnam soon to organize fan meetings and explore more about Vietnamese cuisine. Coming to Vietnam just a few months after Pond Panavit, actor Siraphop Manithikhun (Net) also loved Vietnamese food, especially grilled spring rolls and milk coffee. Before coming to Vietnam, Net had eaten grilled spring rolls many times in Thailand and as soon as the fan meeting ended, he and his crew "bombed" a grilled spring roll restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, then posted it on his personal Instagram page with the "delicious" icon.

Tourists experience Vietnamese cuisine

When it comes to celebrities who love Vietnamese cuisine, the girls from the famous Korean girl group BlackPink must definitely be at the top. Among them, Rosé is famous for her "undying love" for pho, and she was even named the Vietnamese pho ambassador by Vietnamese Blinks (Blink is the fandom name of Blackpink). On her personal Instagram or when filming her own shows, she always has compliments for pho. Whenever she has free time, she goes to Vietnamese restaurants in Korea to enjoy Vietnamese food. Most recently, when organizing the Born Pink music night in Hanoi, the owner of the hit "On the ground" caused a stir when posting a photo of herself slurping up a bowl of pho at Backstage restaurant in Capella Hanoi Hotel - one of the Michelin Selected restaurants in Hanoi.

For Asians who are used to eating a lot of spices, rich Vietnamese food is not difficult to "fascinate" food lovers. However, Vietnamese cuisine has also conquered diners from faraway Europe and America, where their tastes are quite different. "What do you like to eat the most?" - "Definitely Vietnamese food" - the answer in the Q&A section on Instagram by Emma Myers (the "seven-colored wolf" who became famous for her role as Enid in Netflix's Wednesday) in late 2022 created a "storm" on social networking sites. It is worth mentioning that until the answer was announced, there was still no official information about Emma Myers having been to Vietnam. Many of her fans guessed that she had "fallen into" Vietnamese cuisine through pho and banh mi, while others thought that Emma Myers must have been "enchanted" by bun cha. The online community at that time tried to invite Emma Myers to Vietnam to take her out to eat noodles, crab noodle soup, broken rice... to "make her forget the way back to film part 2 of Wednesday".

Westerners eat pho at a Vietnamese pho restaurant on Pham Ngu Lao Street, District 1.

Around the world, Vietnamese sandwiches, pho, and bun cha confidently "conquer" every country. After nearly 2 years of studying abroad in the land of the rising sun, Tuan Vu (from Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City) has almost never known the feeling of "missing home". Because, although he lives in a village quite far from the inner city of Hokkaido City (Japan), just by searching on Google, within a radius of 3 km, there are dozens of Vietnamese restaurants for Vu to choose from. "Vietnamese food and Vietnamese sandwich shops are always crowded. There are Vietnamese, Thai, Korean people, but mostly Japanese. My friends love beef noodle soup. They praise the smell and taste of fish sauce. This surprised me because I thought Japanese people only like to eat bland, raw food with little seasoning. Young people even cook pho at home. Here, we can buy any Vietnamese food we want. Banh xeo, braised pork, banh canh, hu tieu... whatever I crave, I can buy right away. Seeing foreign friends eating the food I cook, nodding and praising it as delicious, I feel very happy and proud" - Tuan Vu excitedly said.

It is not just because of "diplomatic courtesy" that Philip Kotler - the father of modern marketing suggested 17 years ago: "If China is the world's factory, India is the world's office, then Vietnam should be the world's kitchen". Vietnam possesses a cuisine that makes the whole world jealous. According to the assessment of the Chairman of the Vietnam Culinary Culture Association Nguyen Quoc Ky, Vietnamese cuisine possesses many advantages that even Vietnamese people themselves have not yet seen. Vietnamese dishes tend to be natural, close to nature, rich in nutrients, good for health but also very elegant, in line with the current world trend of limiting fat. For example, we eat raw vegetables, boiled vegetables, few fried and stir-fried dishes; meeting most of the requirements of modern cuisine. From very ordinary ingredients, but through the "magic" hands of Vietnamese chefs, they can become very delicious and unique dishes. The same pork ribs dish, but when served with star anise sauce, eaten with a thin slice of cinnamon from Quang Nam, will surprise and delight any picky diner. In addition, the style and culture of Vietnamese people when eating are also respected. The sophistication, tradition, and culture are clearly shown in the way of enjoying food, not being too rich. This is also the essence, the soul that creates the uniqueness and special appeal of Vietnamese cuisine.

Tourists at Ho Thi Ky Food Street (District 10)

However, if you look back at the travelogues of international tourists in Vietnam in the early 21st century, "Vietnam's tourism products" seem to be the tireless creations of... local housewives. In 2005, Taylor Holliday went to Ben Thanh market to do a report on Vietnamese cuisine for The New York Times. At that time, American tour organizers were offering prices from 4,000 - 5,000 USD for 10 days of experiencing Vietnamese cuisine. After more than 30 years of establishment, Vietnamese chefs at that time had a place on the American culinary map. Names like Charles Phan, Michael Huynh or Mai Pham won major awards, built star restaurants, wrote books and raised the Vietnamese cuisine fan movement. However, many American tourists coming to Vietnam "rushing straight" to traditional markets may only bring... disappointment. That was the case of Taylor Holliday.

At Ben Thanh Market, Taylor found herself lost in a "maze" of "unidentifiable" items; "overwhelmed by the smell of raw and cooked food"; "surrounded" by an "overly aggressive force of vendors" that left her feeling overwhelmed. In Hanoi, Taylor visited the 19/12 Market - the capital's famous former Hell Market, now a city of books. The American journalist was greeted by whole roasted dogs baring their teeth on the stalls. "It's worth a visit, but if you haven't been to enough markets to differentiate between Vietnamese coriander and ginger, banana blossoms and dragon fruit, the experience can be utterly depressing!", she wrote.

Since then, Vietnamese cuisine has continuously improved and left a deep impression on the international arena. We are constantly on the list of destinations with the most attractive culinary cultures in the world. In early 2023, the famous travel magazine Travel + Leisure also suggested Vietnam as the top culinary destination in Asia in the 2023 travel itinerary. However, only with the presence of Michelin Guide, Vietnam has truly entered the "sanctuary" of global culinary elite from the fringes.

Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival 2022

Michelin is a term that exudes the scent of creativity and strict rituals for culinary art. The most prestigious names on the global culinary map such as Italy, France, Spain, Japan... do not miss a long list of Michelin-starred chefs and restaurants. To date, there are 40 countries worldwide with the presence of Michelin Guide. On June 6, the list of the first Michelin-starred restaurants in Vietnam was announced in Hanoi, marking a historic milestone for Vietnamese cuisine. According to the General Director of the General Department of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh: "The announcement of Vietnamese restaurants with Michelin stars will be a big, important step in approaching the world's quality of service. Therefore, the Michelin brand coming to Vietnam will create a new trend for tourists coming to Vietnam".

On the very first day of his official visit to Vietnam in early June, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese chose to enjoy draft beer and bread. He did not hesitate to praise Vietnamese bread and happily drank beer while the diners shouted "cheers" at a beer bar on Duong Thanh Street, Hanoi. The Australian Prime Minister praised Vietnamese cuisine for its deliciousness and variety. He also ate boiled peanuts, fish cakes, grilled pork belly, fried tofu... which were the perfect snacks to go with beer.

The image of foreign heads of state and leaders walking around and enjoying street food seems to have become a tradition every time Vietnam welcomes international politicians. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Prince William of Wales used to drink sidewalk coffee; former US President Barack Obama ate Hanoi bun cha in 2016; former US President Bill Clinton marked his first visit to Vietnam in 2000 by eating pho... The visits of foreign politicians further affirm that the cuisine always leaves a beautiful impression in the eyes of international friends, in addition to the hospitality of the people. Following that, the addresses that welcomed politicians in Vietnam received strong media effects to become famous.

Huynh Hoa Bread

However, if only a few dishes and a few restaurants rely on the "free promotion" of politicians or celebrities, the journey to becoming the world's kitchen will certainly be very far away. It is difficult to wait for "good wine to grow naturally" because not only Vietnam, many countries are also promoting culture, cuisine, and tourism beyond their borders.

The most successful so far, perhaps, is Korea. In Vietnam, Korean dishes are becoming more and more popular, appealing to young people as well as middle-aged housewives. No longer just going out to eat grilled food, eating mixed rice... kimchi has even become an indispensable dish in the daily meals of many Vietnamese families. This achievement comes from an extremely successful promotional strategy through cinema. Almost no Korean film does not have a scene of the character eating Korean food. Korean cuisine appears in movies so much that audiences all over the world can clearly remember the dishes of this country such as kimchi, noodles, pancakes, rice cakes, or soju... Even the "puffing mouth and bulging cheeks" eating style of Korean idols once became a trend among Vietnamese youth.

Looking throughout the journey of promoting Vietnamese cuisine, it can be seen that most of the Vietnamese dishes and culinary arts known to tourists are introduced by travel agencies, foreign travel websites and even foreign film studios, not by our own systematic implementation.

Bread workshop organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper at Van Lang University

Known as a culinary "ambassador" who is always tirelessly bringing traditional Vietnamese cuisine to the world, culinary artist Pham Thi Anh Tuyet is completely confident that Vietnamese cuisine is of sufficient stature to reach the world. Not just one or two dishes, but any Vietnamese dish is different, each dish can delight international guests. What is lacking is the right strategy and plan to develop and elevate the cuisine into a brand.

"Cuisine is one of the most effective factors to attract and entice tourists to return. Vietnamese cuisine has many opportunities, but we have not yet grasped them to promote and build a brand. Many countries in the world have done culinary "marketing" very well. For example, Korea, just a vegetable dish, but they have elevated it to a brand. Vietnamese cuisine does not have a clear promotion and development strategy. The promotion story cannot be done in a day or two, but needs a long process, through many stages. We need a worthy promotion strategy to successfully bring Vietnamese cuisine to the world" - said culinary artist Anh Tuyet.

Thanhnien.vn