About

When a person has this nagging need to write about something that she cares passionately about, what does she do? She started a blog! That's right.

All my life, I have wanted to write. And as young as I can remember, loved to watch my mom cooks, to be around and helped her in the kitchen, absorbing the wonderful cooking aroma while listening to her explain the need for complementary as well as contrasting ingredients, the cooking techniques, what gives each dish its distinct characteristics, and most importantly, why she thinks Vietnamese cuisine is one of the best and healthiest in the world. Of course, I remembered thinking at the time that my mom was "prejudice."

I was the oldest of eight children. In our family, dinners were happy times, although I did not know the importance of family meals at the time, nor did I know that for me, meal times with family, and happy moments with my mom in the kitchen, will quickly came to an end.

Like many others who fled Vietnam at the end of April, 1975. I was unprepared to be uprooted, and be so far away from Vietnam, from my family, my school, my friends, and threw into a different world, at such a young age.

To shove away the loneliness and fears of being in a completely strange environment, I clung to every shed of childhood memories. Not surprisingly, food, especially home prepared food, gave me comforts beyond expectations.

To feel close to my family, my siblings, and to keep the memories of the time with my mom in the kitchen alive, I gradually perfected every and all recipes that my mom taught me from the tender age of 6. And in the process, I discovered another thing: When you finally found something that you could not stop doing, it really does make a difference.

Naturally, Vietnamese food is my favorite food. But it is only after I have been able to travel to many different parts of the world, sampled and compared a variety of ethnic food from different countries, even learned how to cook a few non-Vietnamese dishes to perfection, that I finally realized that when saying "Vietnamese cuisine is one of the bests", perhaps my mom had a point.

My mom was considered by many to be a very accomplished chef. With only hired hands, she single-handedly managed the wedding party of my younger sister (in Vietnam) serving more than 500 guests, many of them went away proclaiming that the food they enjoyed were the best they ever had.

In writing this blog, my goal is very modest.

First of all, I hope that in it, you will find some important but often overlooked information about Vietnamese cuisine. For examples, there will be explanation about our ingredients, the importance of contrasting texture and complementary tastes, the fundamentals about what types of dishes combined well with and complements each other. You will also understand what a typical Vietnamese family meal consists of, our cooking methods, the tools that we use, our dining customs, family meal traditions, why we eat what we eat on what occasions, and the meaning of some special dishes.

In Việt Flavors, you will not find the most number of recipes from Vietnam. In fact, compared to other websites, Việt Flavors probably has much fewer recipes. But all recipes that we listed here have been around in my family, have been adapted to cooking methods and using ingredients you can easily find in most places outside of Vietnam.

Each recipe will be written in the spirit of sharing sacred family recipes among close friends. I will share what I know, and hopefully I will be able to learn from other Vietnamese food enthusiasts out there also.

To good times and good food!

Tina Hà Giang