Hanoi (VNA/VNS) - For mostVietnamese people, the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival symbolisesthe beginning of a new year and the accompanying hopes for a happy life.

No matter the family’s circumstances, peoplealways prepare traditional dishes for ancestor worship with the hope that theancestors will bless their descendants with good health, luck and prosperity inthe Lunar New Year.

Traditional dishes like banhchung (square sticky rice cake), gio lua (lean porkpaste), thit dong (frozen meat stew), canh mang (bamboosprout soup) and nem (spring roll) are popular dishesaround Tet.

The burden for preparing all of this falls onwomen. And the incomplete progress towards gender equality means that they mustbalance this task with many other responsibilities, such as career andchildcare. As such, an increasing number of women, still expected by theirfamilies to serve the traditional meals, are selecting ready-to-eat foodservice to help them save time and effort.

Nguyen Thu Huyen, from Hanoi’s Thanh Xuandistrict, is among them.

As a chief accountant for a private company, shehad to work until the last day before Tet. Over the past two years, Huyen hasusually hired people to prepare food and all that she has to do is display themon the family altar.

"With this service, I have more time torest, play and take care of my children. I think this is a very convenientservice, helping to share some of the burdens of women," she said.

Tran Thuy Ha, from Hai Ba Trung district, hasanother story to share.

Living with her husband’s family after marriage,Ha had no chance to celebrate Tet the way she wanted for the pastseven years.

She had to clean and decorate the house as wellas rush to the supermarket to buy many things for the festival.

Now thinking that it is time to relax after ayear of hard work, Ha has decided to order meals for this Tet.

She said she spent only fifteen minutespreparing food for the first three days of the Lunar New Year.

However, purchasing ready-to-eat food is notsomething everyone favours, especially old people.

62-year-old Le Thi Nam,from Hai Duong province, said: “Like many Vietnamese, I thoughtthat Tet was the important time of the gods, ancestors, grandparentswho have passed away and it is the occasion for family members and theirrelatives to reunite.”

In the past, people used to look forwardto Tet to enjoy delicious foods. But now that the country is richer,many formerly special foods are available every day. What makes Tet foodspecial is that it is prepared by families to eat together. 

Vietnamese has its saying “uong nuoc nho nguon”which roughly translates as “when drinking water, you should think of thesource.”

Thus, she said, people should prepare deliciousspecialties by themselves on this occasion to show respect for ancestors andgrandparents.

The food will be offered to the ancestors first,then served to the family during Tet, she explained.

Tet is the time that women are busypreparing dishes to worship the Kitchen Gods and ancestors, but also for allfamily members to get together and share the work, Nam said, adding thatpreparing traditional dishes for ancestor worship together helped tighten therelationship between family members because some of them haven’t met each otherfor a long time.

Historian Le Van Lan agreed. “Whenever we askedan older person about his wish on the New Year, they would remember the warmthof family reunions. They could be the days that Kitchen Gods return to theHeaven, the gathering of family members around square sticky rice pot or theassignment of wrapping nem (spring rolls) on the eve of the Lunar New Year,” hetold a local media.

During Tet, people visit one another,entertain with food and drinks, and greet each other with wishes for luck andhappiness. This cultural custom reflects the Vietnamese people’s longstanding,durable relationship not only inside their families, but also in their nativeplaces.

“In my opinion, though Tet is the timefor togetherness and cohesiveness, most Vietnamese women are the most miserableas they bear the burden of preparing for the occasion. Why don’t we change tomake Tet happier for them and they will have more time to relax?”

“I still remember when I was a small child, mymother was always busy preparing traditional foods like banhchung, dua hanh (pickled onion) or bamboo sprout soup as these foodstake much time. For example, bamboo sprout should be soaked in water about halfa month before Tet and the water needs to be changed every day.”

“As a result of exhaustionfrom Tet preparations, it was easy for my mother to get angry with uswhenever we did things that she did not expect. At that time, we hoped that mymother could make a simple Tet for our family.”

“I think we have many ways to celebrate the NewYear. We can still maintain the tradition of preparing offerings for ancestralworship, but we can trim the preparations without spending so much timeshopping and cooking before and during the holiday so that the spirit of the occasioncan be kept alive - which is what counts more than where the food came from.”Lan said.-VNA/VNS