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We were at a cake-manufacturer of Mr. A and Mrs. Thanh in ward 6, Lien Huong town-let, and got in touch with this couple. They confided that: “We often work so hard on every Tet holidays. Last year, we finally finished our work of delivering cakes on late lunar December 29th afternoon”. Indeed, the family mainly relies on this trade. Usually, the volume of cake for Tet days is much larger than normal days, so they have to hire some more assistants. They mainly make banh chung (square glutinous rice cake), banh tet (Cylindrical glutinous rice cake) as offerings to worship on Tet days. Therefore, in order to get a delicious cake, they work hard all day long and pay much attention to the quality as well as long-term storage capability of each cake. In particular, each step of making cake from selecting sticky rice, stuffing and spices to package and form of each cake requires both skills and carefulness. Mrs. Thanh said, customers can pay a popular cake at high price, but they can not accept the one poor in quality. The two most popular and best-selling banh tet are the big one (1.5kg) and the small one (1kg) that are fragrant, delicious and appetizing. These bright green and eye-catching banh tet and banh chung contain fat and lean, green beans, scented sticky and seasoning.
By this time, not only these establishments of making banh chung, banh tet but also other sites of making dry cake are in a hurry. Without the exception, the cinnamon-pie establishment of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Truc, 57, ward 1, Lien Huong town-let is not very large, but tidy and sanitary. She has involved in this trade all her life-time. Every year, when the New Year is coming, she always runs off her feet going to market, selecting types of powder, sugar, eggs. “In order to get the best cake, this career requires techniques, recipe handed down from generation to generation and the most important thing is the kindness”. – said Mrs. Truc.
In the recent years, due to the increasing rhythm of life decrease the number of home-made cakes, the trade of making cakes for Tet has been developed. The cake-manufacturers in Tuy Phong do not only sell cakes inside but also outside the locality. People definitely prefer homeland-cake because it contains lots of the native flavors.
Mr. Le Van Bay, 67, Lien Huong town-let explained that: “banh chung and banh tet, which are considered as the traditional offering cakes of the Vietnamese people on Tet, remind the expats and descendants about Vietnamese origin.”
According to Mrs. Thanh, banh chung and banh tet must be made by meticulous people and from selective materials such as sticky rice, pork, banana leaves, etc. In addition to, the packing procedure has to conform to certain rules so that the cake can be packed in a perfect way. The process of cooking is also attached great importance so as to keep the color of the leaves pure and natural.
My Thien (Source: Binh Thuan Newspaper)
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