We all know that food is part of the experience when you discover a new country. It’s true everywhere, but it’s even more true in Vietnam. Vietnamese food is so diverse, so fresh, so different than everything you ever knew, that you might just fall in love with it. You might take some time to get to appreciate some of the special local dishes, like the smelly purple shrimp paste that goes awesomely well with deep fried tofu, but you’ll also find dishes that are easier to understand and to enjoy.

Pho

You probably heard of Pho, that rice vermicelli soup served with your choice of meat. This dish is known to be one of the most popular in the country. Originally from the north, the Pho is everywhere in Vietnam, and each region has it’s own recipe for it. You’ll hear many storied about the origins of Pho, but the most famous brings us back to the late 1880’s, when the country was colonized by the French. By doing do, they brought with them many things, including culinary experience, in which the Vietnamese community chose a few stuff, and made them their way. Pho is believed to be an adaptation of the « Pot au Feu », a French soup with meat and vegetables.

And….

In the same concept, the worldwide famous Vietnamese sandwich, the Banh Mi, is known to be a heritage from the French culture. Even the pronunciation sounds kinda french, especially when you know that soft bread in french is called « Pain de Mie ».

Finally….

Those are pretty basic dishes among thousands of other ones in the Vietnamese cuisine. We could talk for ages about it, but the only way to truly understand it, is to taste it, and to taste it again !