Dao Xa honey cake fragrant herbs

When the drums of the festival began to beat in Dao Xa, Thanh Thuy district, the neighborhoods were bustling and busy preparing the altar trays. Visiting the cultural house of zone 4, immediately, the fragrant aroma from the pot of honey cakes being cooked on the red fire awakened the sense of smell of our distant guests. For a long time, honey cakes have not only been a unique dish but also an indispensable offering on the altar tray, showing the fragrant heart of Dao Xa people to offer to the saints who had the merit of building and defending the country in the traditional festival in their hometown.

Women are the ones who take on the job of preparing ingredients and cooking and wrapping the honey cakes.

The Dao Xa Elephant Procession Festival is one of the special festivals of Thanh Thuy district, held from the 27th to the 29th of the first lunar month. About a week before the festival, people in residential areas in the commune will start preparing the altar trays. According to the elders in the commune, in addition to the tray of five fruits, worshiping chicken, and sweet rice, honey cake is a unique offering on the altar tray that is only available in Dao Xa. Dao Xa honey cake has a cockroach-colored color, is soft and smooth, and has a sweet taste from molasses mixed with the spicy taste of fresh ginger.

Although she is 70 years old, every year Mrs. Ha Thi Vien (Zone 4) participates in making the altar. She is assigned to cook honey cakes. Mrs. Vien excitedly said: “The way to make the cake is quite simple, but the special thing about this cake is the combination of both men and women in the stages of making the cake. In which, women will be responsible for preparing the ingredients, cooking, wrapping the cake, while men will be responsible for pulling the cake. The stages seem simple but require meticulousness and dexterity. Because the cake dough cooked over a high heat is very easy to burn, stick to the bottom, and a small heat will make it undercooked. When cooking, you have to watch the heat and constantly stir the dough. When the dough is cooked, the dough will gradually thicken and become very heavy and difficult to stir, so the cook also needs to be flexible.”

Honey cake is not only a unique dish but also an indispensable offering on the Dao Xa people's altar.

To make delicious molasses cake, the ingredients need to be carefully selected, the main ingredients are rice and molasses. After soaking, the rice will be ground into a fine powder, mixed with water to settle, then the clear water will be drained and filtered to get the fine white powder, this powder will continue to be mixed with water and molasses in a ratio of 8:1 (8 parts water powder/1 part molasses). Then add a little fresh ginger juice and put it on the stove to cook over low heat until it turns golden brown, thick and sticky, and does not stick to chopsticks. During the cooking process, add a little banana oil to give the cake a characteristic aroma. After the cake dough is cooked, it will be placed on a transparent plastic sheet, while the dough is still hot, the women will quickly form long blocks of cake, using clean rough cloth to wrap the outside. Then, the men will put the dough into a 10cm diameter iron tube fixed on the table, pulling it back and forth to make the dough round and smooth. This step is called pulling the cake, when the dough slides easily through the tube, it is a sign that the dough has met the requirements, the dough is taken out, wrapped in green dong leaves, tied with string and steamed for 1-2 hours. When the cake is cooked, let it cool before cutting into pieces and placing on the altar tray.

Honey cake is a fragrant gift created from the warmth of village love.

Witnessing the meticulous way Dao Xa people prepare the altar, one can feel the warmth of village love to create a fragrant offering to express gratitude to the ancestors who built and defended the country. Mrs. Ha Thi Vien shared: “In the past, honey cakes were only made during Tet and Dao Xa Communal House Festival. Now, life is more abundant, many families also make honey cakes to share with brothers and friends. My family is the same, sometimes I miss the taste, I make honey cakes to eat and share with neighbors to enjoy, every time I make cakes, the whole neighborhood gathers together, very happy”. For Dao Xa people, honey cakes are not just ordinary cakes. When the honey cake stove is lit, it is an opportunity for generations of old and young, men and women to sit by the fire, cook, pull the cake, reminisce about the past and tell stories of the present. Honey cakes are delicious and special because of that gathering, sharing, and solidarity.

Thuy Phuong

Source: https://baophutho.vn/thao-thom-banh-mat-dao-xa-229020.htm