THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702210162
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: M.F. Onderdonk
LENGTH: 42 lines
AS LONG AS California but only as big as New Mexico, Vietnam is a skinny, coastal country, divided by mountain ranges and distinguished by paddies so prolific they have earned the epithet ``The Rice Bowl of Asia.''
Indigenous Vietnamese food is built on a backbone of rice (which is also made into wrappers and noodles) and of fresh vegetables and small amounts of meat, simply prepared. Dishes are enlivened by lemon grass, mint, cilantro and basil.
In place of soy sauce, the Vietnamese use ``nuoc mam,'' a thin and salty brew fermented from anchovies. Barbecued meats are a hallmark, as well as seafood hot pots and variations on the noodle soup known as ``pho.'' Foods are frequently wrapped in rice paper and eaten as simple meals.
Popular for celebrations is Beef in Seven Dishes, a fondue-style feast, at which beef is cooked at the table and dipped in various sauces.
Vietnamese cuisine is also extraordinarily cosmopolitan, and foremost among the influences it evinces is that of France. The French stamped their imprimatur upon the cuisine and culture of Vietnam during a 450-year sojourn there, which ended - officially, anyway - just before America's began.
La Caravelle, a long-time fine dining restaurant in Virginia Beach, is an offspring of Vietnam's shotgun marriage to France, offering a dual menu of continental specialties and Indochinese fare. At Bon Appetit, another long-time restaurant in Newport News, there is a similar, side-by-side approach to the menu. (In Paris, by the way, Vietnamese restaurants abound, like Indian restaurants in London and Chinese restaurants in New York and San Francisco.)
Dishes like shrimp toast and flan are the children of the French presence in Vietnam, as well as French coffee, an intensely flavored drink served hot or cold and sweetened with condensed milk. From India came curried dishes, while Portuguese traders brought hot chilies. The influence of China is enormous, of course, particularly in the north of Vietnam, where stir-fried dishes are particularly popular. MEMO: [For a related story, see page F1 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT for this
date.]