The soul of the coconut country through folk cakes

Through ups and downs, people of the Coconut Land have been constantly exploring, creating more and more delicious, delicate dishes. The formation of its own eating style is always associated with history, geography, and climate. Therefore, the cuisine of the Coconut Land mostly comes from the casual, brings the country-flavor. The typical dishes is the unique folk cakes. For the people of the coconut land, the cake is not only for eating but also for exchange the culture. Ben Tre is known as the land of "the spirit land", which is to absorb and preserve cultural quintessence from the reclaiming time of the ancestor, so the folk cakes in Coconut Land cuisine always reflect the rustic soul. It also shows up the love of grandmothers, mothers, and sisters, blends with the soul of local plants and flowers into each cake.

(Photo: Tuong Vi)

In memory of the Coconut Country people, no one does not remember the image of a woman who sits beside a flour store mill, watches the fire by the red stove all night to process delicious and beautiful cakes. Whether it is salt cakes or pastries, the folk cakes are made through the woman's skillful hands. They can be ordinary housewives, but sometimes they also can be skilled craftsmen and whoever they are, all folk cakes always exude the valuable love from people of Coconut Land.

Currently, Ben Tre has many kinds of folk cakes, which are made from very simple ingredients, especially those with mostly coconut materials: rice, glutinous one, beans, cereals, coconut meat, coconut milk, also known as coconut cream, .... In addition, these cakes also have many different forms of processing, with various shapes: sweat or salt cakes, cakes with staff or not; wrapped or bare cakes and cakes in round shape, flat, square, tower, pillar,… There are many kinds of cakes such as: for full eating, work eating, between meals, or serving as desserts. Some cakes have used forgiving, offering.

Ben Tre Coconut Cake (Photo: Phuong Thy)

Recently, Coconut Land folk cakes are increasingly plentiful but it still retains the rustic, simple features and inherent country soul, such as some kinds of coconut cake in Vietnamese words: bánh tét nhân chuối; bánh tét nhân đậu; bánh bò nước cốt dừa; "bánh bèo ngọt"; "bánh dừa"; "bánh cuốn ngọt nhân dừa"; "xôi mít dừa nạo"; "xôi lá cẩm"; "xôi lá dứa"; "bánh ít nhân dừa"; "bánh lá rau mơ nước cốt dừa"; "bánh da lợn"; "bánh đúc"; "bánh đuông"; "bánh tằm khoai mì"; "bánh chuối"; "bánh ú nước tro". Above all, it is also the creativity of bringing ingredients from coconut into the processing stage to increase the fatness, flavor of the cake and contribute to enhancing the distinctive flavor of the Coconut Land in folk cakes.

"Bánh da lợn", "bánh lá rau mơ", "bánh bò", "bánh chuối" mix with coconut cream (Photo: Tuong Vi)

At the same time, it is prouder and prouder when the Coconut Land folk cake is also famous in nationwide with "My Long" rice paper and Son Doc glutinous rice chapatty at the traditional craft villages "My Long rice paper" (My Thanh commune) and Hung Nhuong commune in Giong Trom district. The cakes were recognized to be included in the list of "National Intangible Cultural Heritage" in 2018. These two traditional trade villages have had over 100 years old and preserved and passed down through the generations. So they can make delicious cakes, which attract many tourists coming from far and near places

(Photo: Tuong Vi)

Coconut folk cakes always make visitors satisfied and excite so they can enjoy the cakes which are introduced in Ben Tre Traditional Culture Festival (July 1) every year; Ben Tre Coconut Festival; The Southern Folk Cake Festival taking place every year in Can Tho at the booth of artisans Ben Tre,…. However, visitors can also buy and enjoy those cakes at some markets in Ben Tre province.

The cakes here as like the gifts from the countryside bringing childhood memories back to life. Not only does the substance contain inherent traditional flavors, but also has been improved in both appearance and quality, so it is increasingly enhanced in terms of the Coconut land cultural value. Hopefully, in this globalized world, indigenous traditional values such as Coconut Land folk cakes will always be preserved and promoted.

Author: Tuong Vi

Translator: Phuong Thy

Ben Tre homestay: Many points attract visitors

Keeping away from the noise in the city, one day if you suddenly want to find a peaceful place in Xu Dua where you can stay at and accompany many attractive tourist services, homestay will be one of the option which is worthy of experience. The homestay in Ben Tre is increasingly improved in both quantity and quality to meet the needs of all visitors from near and far places.

The model of homestay tourism must be too familiar to many tourists in the past few years because of its closeness and simplicity, so there seems to be no distance between tourists and local people. Currently, the whole province of Ben Tre has more than 30 homestay points which are distributed evenly across districts and cities, typically: Homestay Nguyet Que, Xom Dua Nuoc, Nam Hien, Cai Cam, Jardin Du Mekong, Ut Trinh, Mango Home Riverside, Cocole, Duyen Que, Con Ba Tu, Ve Nha, Nghenh Xuan, ...

These homestays are increasingly looked after by the owner and paid attention to every detail. Especially in the design stage, it is no longer sketchy bedrooms, but instead the most of the rooms are built into a separate small house with many materials and various designs: stilt houses are made of coconut wood, glass, or bamboo, ... with many ways to create a very unique mark. These homestays give guests a sense of privacy as if they were their own home.

The visitors' first impression is comfort and modernity but it still retains the rustic and rural features. The interior of the homestay is fully equipped with all necessary items such as bed, blanket, pillow, bedsheet, garbage can, toilet, sink, towel, table, chair, cabinet. Everything is neatly arranged regularly cleaned and maintained by the owner so it is always new and clean tidy.

At the same time, the natural landscape surrounding the homestay gives visitors the feeling of peaceful and relaxation. Ben Tre is a poetic lyrical land of coconut by the green coconut groves, fruit orchards with many rivers and canals to create the nature more harmony.

Today, with the talent and creativity of the locals, the homestay makes visitors excited, surprised by the eye-catching decoration of surrounding landscapes. The first time arriving at homestay in "Land of coconut", visitor will be impressed right from the outside since the entrance of the gate and will be extremely cute with the lovely flowers fences, the stylized signs which are also designed very nicely.

When stepping inside, pretty sure that most visitors just want to stay here for a long time and don't want to come back because of the peaceful sky in front of them. Most of the homestay have coconut trees, the two sides of the alleyway are green trees, flowers being manicured; fishes are swimming in the lake. Far away there are the vegetables and dangle grapefruit on branches along with coconut bridges and sampans. All things seem so reminiscent of a peaceful childhood.

Moreover, all the guests who stay in Ben Tre homestay also have the opportunity to enjoy a variety of delicious dishes with coconut flavor. The dishes in Ben Tre's homestay are always aimed at enjoying the culinary culture of the coconut land, such as mussel pancakes, coconut fried shrimp, Vietnamese Caramelized Pork and Eggs, coconut cake,... At the same time, visitors can also stand in a rustic wood stove and cook with hosts as the members of their family, so you will feel the closeness that you cannot find in any journey.

In addition, the homestay also offers many services, many interesting activities and some tour programs for tourists. A typical example is Con Ba Tu homestay (Thoi Thuan commune, Binh Dai district), often has the program "Village Fair and Cuisine" on the weekend with many interesting activities: crab fishing, fishing, clam catching or program 1-day or 2-day-1-night tour to experience at Con Ba Tu. At Homestay Ut Trinh (Tam Hiep Isle, Binh Dai District) there are also many services for visitors: visiting the longan garden, making cake, etc with available prices.

The homestay in Ben Tre is more and more unique highlights to attract and meet the diverse needs of all travelers. Let's visit the "Coconut land" and stay at the homestay to feel the peaceful moments, and the most enjoyable experience in your travels.

Author: Tuong Vi

Translator: Phuong Thy

Source: https://dulich.bentre.gov.vn