Hanoi (VNA) - The three mainregions of Vietnam are characterized by different climate and soil conditionsthat result in different traditions and customs, and some of these have to dowith which traditional dishes are favoured and how they are prepared when Tet,the Lunar New Year, is celebrated.

Taking the former royal capital city of Hue asrepresentative of the central region, banh chung and banhtet are the most important Tet dishes, as in other regions. The stickyrice cakes made with a stuffing of green bean and pork symbolize the wet-ricecultivation that the nation has subsisted on for centuries.

While people in the north prefer banhchung – square cake, Hue residents prefer banh tet –the cylinder sticky rice cake that is said to symbolize a shoulder pole (theCentre) carrying two baskets (the North and the South) at either ends. Forcenturies, the bamboo shoulder poles and bamboo baskets have been the mainstayfor carrying and selling things in Vietnam.

Another difference that can be seen is that thesizes of the cakes are smaller in the central region. Hue residents like toclaim that this denotes an emphasis for sophistication rather than volume, asalso greater skills required to shape and wrap the smaller cakes.

Anyone who has had the banh chung and banhtet in Hue, will attest to its superb taste. Two years ago, I tooksome Hue banh chung along for a trip to the Tu Lan Cave in QuangBinh Province as a contingency provision. I ended up getting other food as myAmerican, British, Canadian, Chinese and Vietnamese trip mates found the cakesso good that they gobbled them up to the last morsel.

Dua mon, sliced papaya, kohlrabi, carrot and onion were preserved insalt, sugar and vinegar.

While banh chung and banhtet are the items that Hue inherited from ancestors who came in fromthe North, dua mon is a ‘endemic’ Tet dish of locals.

Dua mon is as an accompaniment to banh chung and banhtet in order to enjoy a combination of different tastes - sweet, salty,fatty and spicy.

Predicting the Tet weather in Hue is a difficulttask. It might be hot at above 30 Celsius degrees or be cold under 15 Celsiusdegrees with continuous rains for a week. With such unpredictable weatherconditions, banh tet and dua mon are the bestchoices for Tet food, since they can be preserved for up to 15 days, and peopledo not have to spend too much time in the kitchen.

For Hue residents, banh tet and duamon are must-have items for the Lunar New Year. Visitors to the citycan try these mouthwatering dishes for a better comprehension of wet-ricecultivation culture.

Most Vietnamese men drink alcohol to celebrate Tet.And as a tradition, Hue women also prepare food for the drinkers, like slicesof pig stomach and Roxburgh fig (Ficus auriculata) soaked in sweetenedfish sauce. This fig preparation is a Hue specialty because the tree does notgrow so well outside Thua Thien- Hue Province.

Blessed with a lot of sunlight and rich soil togrow plants and vegetables all year round, the southern region enjoys anabundance of fruits, vegetables and seafood. So there is a air of unmistakableprosperity here, compared to other rural regions in the country.

Their Tet food, apart from the banhchung and banh tet, are easy to cook, with some of themore popular dishes including pork cooked in coconut milk and a soup cookedwith bitter gourd stuffed with mushrooms and pork.

Coconut palms can be found everywhere in theSouth, and bitter gourds grow in just about every garden. The fruit iscalled kho qua in the south. Literally, kho meanshardships in life and qua means over. The kho qua soupconveys the wish to overcome hardships in the coming year.

These dishes are easy to cook, taking verylittle time compared to the week-long preparations that Hue dishes involve.-VNA