Talking about Vietnamese cuisine is talking about the sophistication and diversity in the processing methods of each region. To create that sophistication and diversity, besides the ingredients, spices are indispensable. Each type of food is often accompanied by its own spices that evoke the characteristic flavor and taste of that dish. Using spices is the art of the cook to enhance the flavor of the dish, stimulate the taste buds and digestion. Using them appropriately for each dish is the skill of the housewife, especially in the ancestral altar and meals during Tet.
For a normal meal, there may be 1-2 spices missing, but in the Tet tray, a skillful housewife will not miss any spices from onions, ginger, garlic, chili, pepper to herbs to eat with. The pungent, spicy taste of pepper, chili, garlic, ginger... makes the food more attractive. The green color of vegetables, red color of chili, yellow color of flower-carved carrots make the banquet table more colorful. The aroma must also have enough tones to determine which dish is which. The Tet tray is a collection of the quintessence of products from the forest and the sea. That is rice, sticky rice from the countryside that is carefully grown and harvested all year round, herbs that grow from suburban land or small gardens behind the house, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, dried bamboo shoots from distant forests brought to the city... When people lift their chopsticks, they feel like they are enjoying the blessings of all their homelands. That is why the dishes are carefully prepared to be delicious and exude a unique flavor. What needs to be spicy must be spicy, what needs to be hot must be hot.
Lunar New Year belongs to the cold season, the season when warm spices such as ginger, chili, pepper, onion, garlic... reign. A skillful housewife is the one who knows how to choose each spice, adjust it to suit each dish, and the general taste of everyone in the family. A careless housewife will click her tongue, missing 1-2 spices is okay, because they are just family members so there is no need to be fussy and meticulous. Of course, the dish will be less delicious because of that, losing its own flavor.
The concern for seemingly small things like spices is not without reason. Spices are things that directly affect people's five senses, making the dish not just cooked food but truly a masterpiece of a fragrant heart, a manifestation of the housewife's talent. The pungent, spicy things make the food just hot enough. The green, red, and yellow things make the meal more colorful. The aroma has enough tones to determine which dish is which. All of them force people to look at and sniff before enjoying the blessings of heaven and earth, the precious dishes of the feast to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year.
Spices in daily meals not only make dishes more flavorful, beautiful, and delicious, but are also precious medicines given by nature, reducing the boredom of meat, fat, and banh chung, helping to improve health.
In the past, when things were difficult, to prepare all the spices for the Tet tray, housewives had to prepare months in advance to have all the spices. Tet now is not so complicated. On the morning of the 30th, running around the supermarket, going to the flower market, and coming home is just enough for a Tet. Everything is available, the most important thing for housewives is not to forget anything, especially spices, because without spices, "fate lacks the passionate fire".
Phan Cuong
Source: https://baophutho.vn/gia-vi-trong-mam-co-tet-226615.htm
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