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Squid, chillies and Vietnam
by Towheed Feroze
photo by Afsar ahmed
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The pickles made from tomatoes — yes, a simple dish but that is the one that has left a lasting impression on my mind. Oh! We are talking about the Vietnamese food festival that was held recently.
Vietnam has a special place among the people of Bangladesh because back in the seventies the people of the country managed to throw out the invading army of a superpower. Well, that may have been the past, forgotten and forgiven, but still today Bangladeshis respect the Vietnamese people for their courage.
Be that as it may, when the Vietnamese food festival opened in the city at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, people came in to taste the food and catch a glimpse of the performing cultural troupe draped in white. Immaculate white one should say.
‘Try the soup with raw meat,’ suggested someone and we obliged. Hey, it wasn’t bad at all. They take the beef, put it into a bowl of hot water for a few minutes and then mix it with the stock. With plenty of chillies and other garnish, this is one dish that can enflame the taste buds.
The squid was tasty too, and though this reviewer has tried the dish elsewhere, it was at this festival that he managed to appreciate it. Well, they do say, one can make anything taste good, if the process is right.
The spring rolls with fish were divine and the beef wasn’t that bad either. But, the show stealer was the fruit section. Seeing a long line of people in front of the fruits, it became clear once more that we do love fruits.
Some even mixed the fruits with the rice and the curry; hey, this is the age of experimentation, so let rules be bent or, better still, discarded.
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