Hanoi has days when the weather seems to have all four seasons. Those are the days of late autumn and early winter. The dry, golden sunshine spreads from the blue sky, blending with the cool breeze, inviting visitors from all over, calling and urging people to leave the house, to come to nature, to the sunshine and the wind. On such a beautiful day, the sunshine and wind of the four seasons of Hanoi are enriched by "The flavor of the sunny and windy land...", the very cute name of "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" held in an open space by Thien Quang Lake, next to Thong Nhat Park.
Opening of "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" - Photo: NGUYEN DUC TAN
A famous journalist, from Quang Tri, wrote about that festival on his Facebook page like this: “So many names of land, village, river, and mountain in Quang Tri that people from all over the world think are familiar. But the richly flavored products that are carefully extracted from the land, villages, rivers, and mountains are certainly not known to many people. More than 200 types of special products from the land of Lao wind and white sand have the rich flavor of the Central region, the passionate flavor of the sunny and windy region. And maybe that is the last piece in the emotions about the land of Quang Tri, the place “missed before going, loved before coming” for those who love it.”
Those lines urged me to spend a beautiful weekend in the space “Flavor of the sunny and windy land…” by that beloved lake. I call it that because for a long time I have considered myself and been considered a child of Quang Tri land.
Perhaps it can be said without fear of exaggeration that this is one of the most impressive local culinary promotion activities in the capital in the last days of 2023. Not as grand as some other fairs, nor occupying a favorable location on Hoan Kiem Lake walking street, the space of "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" seems quite modest like the land of Lao wind and white sand nestled next to the Truong Son mountain range. Modest, but it seems to have created a strong attraction for city residents, making the first days of winter in Hanoi warmer and more bustling.
The attraction not only affects Quang Tri people who are living, studying and working in Hanoi, but also those who have been attached to this land of Lao wind and white sand, including those who 50 years ago lived, fought and devoted their youth to the Fatherland in Quang Tri.
Therefore, the corner of Tran Nhan Tong Street on that weekend not only invited Quang Tri people living, studying and working in Hanoi, but was also a meeting place for veterans who enlisted in 1972, the year when 3-4 waves of Hanoi soldiers successively entered Quang Tri during the fiery summer. In 1972, they not only experienced the sun and wind of Quang Tri for the first time, got acquainted with bullets and bombs, but also learned about the humanity of this difficult land through the lovely voices and tender eyes of the girls of Gio Linh and Cua Viet.
They also learned about rustic dishes for the first time, tasting them once is memorable, like Cam Lo Vang tea, Vinh Linh tapioca dumplings, Hai Lang chili paste... At the first "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" organized this year, in addition to the dishes of the past, they learned about the specialties of the land that they secretly consider their second homeland, introduced and served to visitors right next to Thien Quang lake, with Ca Men snakehead fish porridge, Cua chicken, tapioca dumplings... along with Vena Vodka, Camel Quang Tri beer... typical product brands, OCOP products of Quang Tri province.
Customers learn about products displayed at "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" - Photo: NGUYEN DUC TAN
The interesting and somewhat regrettable thing is that many people, both Quang Tri people living in Hanoi and Hanoians who love and are attached to this land, due to lack of information, arrived late and missed the opportunity to enjoy the flavors from the sunny and windy land. When asked, it turned out that the reason for the out-of-stock situation was because the "Quang Tri expatriates" in the capital, when they saw the delicious dishes of their hometown, they enjoyed them twice or three times more, so they sold out.
This can be considered something that the organizers need to learn from, but it also shows the breadth and depth of the attachment of Hanoians to the land of Quang Tri. I was also one of the latecomers. Although I did not have time to enjoy the banh canh, I still had time to buy a box of cao che vang, a bottle of Gia Dang fish sauce, a package of five-color noodles...
I was lucky enough to taste a can of Camel Quang Tri beer and was extremely excited when the saleswoman with an expressive Quang Tri accent said that it was produced right on Cam Lo land, the land where my comrades and I struggled during the war. The consolation was that there were more phone numbers of agents for Quang Tri organic rice, Khe Sanh coffee, Cua pepper, Cao Che Vang, Cao So Gai Leo, Cajuput essential oil, Ca Men snakehead fish porridge, Cua chicken, Gia Dang fish sauce, Vodka Vena, Camel Quang Tri beer... with the promise: Just one phone call and someone will ship it to your home.
The event of more than 200 products bearing the flavor of Quang Tri's sunshine and wind being introduced for the first time in Hanoi not only has the meaning of promoting trade or promoting tourism and investment in this land with many difficulties, it is also a recognition of a cultural mark of this land in the heart of the capital.
A comrade of mine 50 years ago, who was known for his vulgar way of speaking, when recounting the time he enjoyed the "Flavors of the Windy Land..." that day, made a philosophical statement: Just kidding, meeting an old dish is like meeting an old friend...
Many OCOP products of Quang Tri are trusted by customers - Photo: TRUC PHUONG
If that is true, then the acquaintances I met again at the "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" were bottles of Kim Long wine with many eye-catching designs. Actually, this is a long story. Few people in the local Party Press Village nationwide do not know about the close relationship between me and Truong Duc Minh Tu, Editor-in-Chief of Quang Tri Newspaper, as well as the close relationship between Quang Tri Newspaper and Kinh te va Do thi Newspaper over the years, the link being the "Nguy tinh thang July Program". But perhaps few people know that he once did not like me very much because of my appearance as a "Hanoi petty bourgeois playboy" (Tu's words), and on top of that, he rode a vespa, smoked a pipe... as he told in the book "Ve ben song xua" written about the land and people of Quang Tri. It was also thanks to a time when we confided in each other over a bottle of Kim Long wine that Tu knew that I had also faced bombs, sun and wind on my homeland and it seemed that he had liked me since then.
I was also touched and understood that when writing about me in his book, Tu favored me as a son of Quang Tri. Tu is 10 years younger than me, we love and respect each other perhaps because we both have the word Giáp. I was Giáp Ngọ 1954, Tu was Giáp Thìn 1964.
This Spring of the Year of the Dragon, I will drink Kim Long wine, a bottle of wine bought at Thien Quang Lake, at the "Quang Tri Product Festival in Hanoi 2023" to remember Quang Tri, Tu, and the "Flavors of the sunny and windy land..." that I have been fortunate to be close to and experience in my life.
Ta Viet Anh
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