Eye On Hanoi
Reflections on Life in Hanoi
food, art, and fashion
July 7, 2009
There is something about Hanoi, and Vietnam in general, that emanates, for want of a better phrase, a romantic and artsy aura about it. The mélange of the cafes, the lakes, the pagodas, the cathedral, the history, the old quarter, the narrow streets of crowded shops, the boulevards, the old colonial structures, and the chaotic traffic create a ‘je ne sais quoi’ about the place for those of us who live here for any period of time. The food, the art, and the fashion are but three of the multitude of expressions that dance together to make up what is Hanoi. Such integral parts they are to society here and anywhere, it surprises me that I have not thought to write on them in any of my previous entries. So it is, with but a few months remaining before we leave this town, that I attempt to tackle three topics upon which we all no doubt have our own very strong opinions.
But before I delve any further into this entry, let me first set the correct expectations here. I am neither food critic, fashionista, nor art expert. I am not the type to wax lyrical over some dish I ate at a restaurant; one would certainly not look to me for advice on what to wear next summer; and while I enjoy art very much do not expect me to turn all Zen and go 'hmmmm' when I look at a painting. I am a simple man, with simple needs (though I do want to own a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft one day, and I guess that counts as a farely complex need), and on these topics, I possess a simple understanding. There are far more qualified persons to talk on these topics than I, so all I have to offer is my simple interpretation.
Food
With all due respect to my many fri
ends in the food industry, might I just say that it does seem to be one full of overused, and thus rendered meaningless, marketing phrases. Since hyperbole such as 'sumptuous feast', 'mouthwatering delicacies', and 'gastronomical delights' I detest with a vengeance, that is the last that you will see of such references in these humble paragraphs. Furthermore, with a significant percentage of you, the audience, being from Singapore, on the topic of food I do need to tread carefully. Singapore is a nation of food critics. Being a Kiwi, with a very antipodean and functional approach to food, I have fallen asleep during many a discussion amongst my dear Singaporean family and friends as they go on for hours about the relative quality of the meal we’ve just enjoyed. When I had thought a simple ‘yeah, that was nice’ would have sufficed, the conversation around the dinner table does seem to quickly skirt around more trivial topics (such as current affairs, art, culture, and politics) and plough right into the real meat of the day – what we just had for dinner. So it is with the same fear and intrepidation that is experienced by a professional presenting to his or her peers that I tackle this topic on the various culinary manifestations of the dietary peculiarities of the peoples of the Red River delta and beyond.
It pains me to say this, but I would not rank Vietnamese food up there with Thai food. There is much great stuff around though, all of which are worth trying. One thing that seems to typify Vietnamese food is it’s delicacy. Even their heavier foods are relatively light and refreshing. Take their ‘nem’ (what us New Zealanders would call a ‘spring roll’) for instance. Compared to the Thai version which has quite a hard deep fried skin, the Vietnamese version has a very light rice paper that is only lightly fried, making it very light and delicate to eat. Many of the dishes here come with copious amounts of leafy greens, so the food in general is pretty healthy. At first I used to finish off the main part of the dish then perhaps nibble on a couple of pieces of lettuces. But since recently reading about the anti-oxidants in leafy greens and their anti-aging properties I have been finishing off my veges just like my mum always told me (apparently though, at least according to me lady, I am the only person who did not know that leafy greens will make your wrinkles go away )
Perhaps the most famous dish in all of Vietnam is the ‘phở bò’ (if you can say ‘fur ball’, without the ‘ll’s then you will not be to far off the pronunciation for this one). If anyone knows one Vietnamese dish, then this is the one. While the dish derives itself from days well before the French arrived on the scene (it was introduced by the Mongols), it’s current name and form owes much to the frogs. The French called the dish ‘pot au feu annamite’ (hence, ‘phở’; ‘bò’ = beef), beefed up the stock, added some herbs and spring onions to it, asked for the beef slices to come rare, and – voila!!! A tasty meal for a cold morning. Many have written about this dish as though it contains some magical powers, but to be honest I have often wondered why. Look, it is a nice dish, but I wouldn’t fly to Hanoi just for the phở. It’s more often than not a breakfast food and I find it just a little on the light side to have too often - it probably explains the differences in average pack weights of the All Black scrum versus the Vietnamese national rugby team.
There are many dishes that I would personally recommend over phở bò. For example, bún riêu cua (spelling), nem, chả lá lốt (sp.), and (my all time favourite) bún chả. Most of these dishes are available on the street, or in the many restaurants (low end and high end) around town. But, please, do try the phở by all means – it’s still one of the must do Vietnamese experiences.
Then of course there are t
he foods that I would not recommend. Dog, snake, and so forth. Yes, they eat dog and much fanfare is made of it – mostly by visitors. The fear of dog meat is more psychological than anything, for me anyway. The first time I came across dog being sold in a market I saw what I thought was a whole row of roasted pigs on skewers. Hmmmm, yummy I thought. Then I saw the snarling teeth, and thought ‘that ain’t pig’. Within seconds the air had become overpowering and I had begun dry reaching as I ran out of the market. Much gusto and bravado is made among foreigners and Vietnamese alike about dog, but do not be fooled. In reality, many many many many Vietnamese do not eat dog meat and never will. It is certainly not mainstream food. And for those who do eat it, it tends to be a once a month kind of treat – maybe it’s too high in something (hmmmm, I recall while reading ‘Mawson’s Will’ decades ago, about some early explorers in Antarctica who had to turn on their dogs in order to survive, that their main problem was the high dangerously Vitamin A content in dog liver – so just remember that, it might come in useful if you get lost with your dog one day). I will give many things a go once, and twice if I like. The first time I tried dog I almost vomited. It was disgusting. I threw it back down and washed what was in my mouth down with a whole mug of beer. I learnt later though that what I had been repulsed by was not the dog meat itself but the very sauce that I had dunked it in with the hope of drowning out the flavour of the dog. Mắm tôm is a fermented prawn paste sauce that is rather popular in these parts. To me, it smells and tastes like vomit and I am never going near the stuff again. Out of respect to the dogs of the world, I did try a small sampling again some months later, once I had recovered from the first traumatic experience – this time without the sauce. Ok, it was not bad. It was edible. But, it may very well have been be my last. As in, I am not going out of my way to try it again.
Snake on the other hand I will probably never try. Well actually, I would probably try the meat if the opportunity presented itself one day. But why, oh why, do people insist on serving such dishes with things like their tiny beating heart, and some rice wine mixed with some snake’s blood. It seems to be the way that it comes in the snake restaurant on the outskirts of Hanoi. No! Not needed!
Which reminds me one of my other gripes about the food industry. Actually, probably more about the reality TV industry than the food industry really. There are so many boring chef shows on TV at the moment, following around chefs with million pound egos to the edges of the earth. You women and your love of food and hunky (and even fat) chefs are the main cause of all this! It’s like Oprah in the kitchen. What ever happened to good quality TV (hmmmm, am I starting to sound old already)? Anyway, there’s one show called something (you can tell I do not watch it and do not care to) where this guy goes around the world sampling all the weird foods of the world. I am sure that if he has not been here already, that he will be soon – to sample some of dog or snake or that wine with scorpions soaking in it. Sigh. Get a life. They look disgusting. They taste disgusting. And there’s a reason why those foods are not eaten by the mainstream population. And as for those claims of virility that all the connoisseurs of these exotic foods claim – well, how many woman do you know trying to force feed their husbands the stuff ;)
One of the more memorable aspects of Vietnamese food for me will be the story of the seasons as played out by the fruit on the streets of Hanoi. In this day and age of air-flown produce we’ve become so used to all produce available all-year round that we’ve almost lost our s
ense of seasonal fruits. In most modern cities, if you want fresh apples then your local supermarket will have them winter, spring, summer, autumn – either from local orchards or flown in overnight from Uzbekistan. Like a seasonal calendar, the fruits sold by the ladies on the streets and in the markets of Hanoi are a reminder of a time when they only came when their time was due, and not according to the dictates of humankind’s modern desire for ‘immediacy’. It’s been such a joy to watch the year roll by in terms of lychees, chiku, longan, rambutan, persimmon, dragonfruit, oranges, durian, mango, mangosteen, strawberries, grapes, peaches and apples. Which raises the point that, given it’s location near the Tropic of Cancer, Hanoi really does have access to an enviable selection of fresh fruit. From not to far south come it’s tropical fruits, while from not to far north come the more temperate zone stone and pip fruits and more.
On the restaurant front, one of the joys we first encountered on our arrival in this town was the impressive selection of affordable, good dining. It is one of the things that makes this a wee gem of a city. Whether it’s a street side café you are after, a patisserie, a coffee while you look over a small lake, Vietnamese cuisine, French, Italian, Russian, Lebanese, Moroccan, Australian, Belgium, German, Spanish, International (whatever that is) or fusion, then I am sure that there is something here to whet your appetite. Many of the restaurants are inside old houses so, aside from the food, the ambience in most cases is great as well. In general, the pricing is pretty good and affordable, and if you want to pay top dollar just head to the flash hotels and they will point you to their restaurants for more international pricing options - and they have some top class food too. And then of course there are the street side vendors selling very cheap traditional fare to the Vietnamese themselves and the occasional foreigners. The doctors at the international clinics here advise against street side stalls, but … go on, give it a go ;).
The French have left a very real and obvious legacy in many areas of life throughout Hanoi and Vietnam, and as one would expect of the French, this includes some nice touches to the cuisine. One touch that comes to mind in particular is the numerous bakeries around town serving up lovely fresh breads, cakes, and coffees everyday. It’s quite a treat to be able to trundle down in the early morning to a little bakery and grab some fresh bread and pastries for breakfast or lunch. Might I offer two words of advice from a Kiwi to the French though (which of course would have translated through to the bakeries of Vietnam if they had got these pearls of wisdom right in the first place)? First, fresh cream is much nicer than custard in a chocolate éclair; and second, your cakes portions are way too small. No wonder you can’t play rugby.
As alluded to many times in my entries to date, the purpose of these writings is not a travel guide, so I will save myself the hassle of providing you with a restaurant-by-restaurant or dish-by-dish recommendation – that’s the job of Lonely Planet. Everyone in this town has their favourite spots, and if you are headed this way then drop me a note and I’d be happy to give you my two cents worth. Having said this, please grant me this one recommendation within this entry. If you are here for only one meal, then you must check out Quan An Ngon on Phan Boi Chau Street – it’s a great introduction to Vietnamese cuisine at a very cheap price, in a wonderful lively ambience. It’s a must try for anyone visiting Hanoi.
Anyway, enough about food. I like eating food, but do not get much of a kick out of writing or reading about it. Go read this book for a whole 184-pages on the topic of Vietnamese food: Noodle Pillows, by Peta Mathias. It’s a great introduction to Vietnamese food and culture.
Fashion
I have always found it somewhat refreshing when I see a culture embracing it’s own fashion and arts industry. On visits to The Philippines over the years, I have often been impressed with the airtime that the local musicians receive on local radio and TV and the patronage the Filipinos demonstrate toward their own fashion brands. My impression is that it is much the same here in Vietnam. There are a myriad of homegrown clothing labels on both high street and back street around the country. In one respect, one might be able to explain the strong presence of local brands as appealing to the Vietnamese whose lower incomes would make the lower pricing more attractive than the familiar international labels. It is the high end though that I do find most interesting. One of my favourite stores on Dong Khoi Street in Ho Chi Minh City has some great bohemian style clothing from a Vietnamese designer, but with shirts going for up to USD200 a piece I am somewhat intrigued that there is actually a market for it. I recall pulling one shirt I liked off the rack then, looking at the price tag, putting it back saying ‘ah, no’! Not I, but someone in Vietnam is obviously paying top dollar for shirts as this store seems to be doing pretty well.
Flowery, frilly, embroidered patterns seems to be par for the course for many Vietnamese designers. It’s a design that not too many westerners have an attraction to, but too be honest I reckon some of the less flamboyant ones look pretty good. Alas, I have a few such items in my wardrobe as we speak. In fact, I have quite a number of Vietnamese designed and made articles of clothing now. Though I somehow have my doubts that my fashion sense is going to drive your wardrobe decisions, so I guess that is quite irrelevant.
As in any culture, menswear is mostly relegated to the single rack at the back of a shop overcrowded with women’s clothing. Ladies, it’s not that us guys do not want to improve our fashion sense – it’s just that we can’t find anything. It’s like we need to revert to our innate hunting instincts to search out clothing – and since clothing in general does not omit an odour the hunt is made that much more difficult. Over the years however, I have learnt to head on down to the back of the shop to find that lone rack. As for ladies wear, there are quite a number of interesting shops here in Hanoi. And it’s not just the local Vietnamese women with whom these brands are popular. Many a female family member or friend of mine has purchased dresses from such shops as Marie Linh and Le Vent. Sometimes the smaller Vietnamese sizes have frustrated purchases for some western buyers, but in general we’re all pretty happy with the options available here in Vietnam.
Early in this article I alluded to the artsy aura around town. And it’s a fever that a number of foreigners seem to pick up relatively quickly as well. Thankfully, some of these out-of-towners have been successful in setting up top quality restaurants and, relevant to these paragraphs, fashion labels. Ipanema, a well-known ladies bag shop, was set up by a ‘trailing spouse’ and is now a successful international brand. Things of Substance and Contraband are the creation of an Australian, and are another well-known brand around town and are moving to the international export market. Actually, I think half my wardrobe now comes from the Things of Substance store. Alas, Ipanema bags are not my thing – the ladies love them though. Hmmm, maybe instead of sticking with IT I should have been more bold and branched out to a completely new field during my time here eh!
What is lacking in ‘off the rack’ menswear clothing here is more than made up for in tailored suits. South East Asia is full of tailors able to make you a cheap suit overnight - many of which are not too bad for those briefly passing through town. And Hanoi is no different. Those of us lucky enough to be living here for any length of time however, have the option of being a little more patient and getting something tailored that we are truly happy with. It’s perhaps a little on the greedy side, but so far I’ve splashed out on four suits during my time here. At around USD140 a pop, it’s hard not to say ‘oh, I’ll just get one more in a slightly different shade of grey’. I’ve got a great tailor I go to each time in his shop house down a small alley very close to St Joseph’s Cathedral. Trained in East Germany, his English is not great, but with handshakes, smiles, my broken Vietnamese and his university student daughter helping with translation we manage to exchange the necessary information. The first suit I had made was a real education in the art. After an extensive measure up I expected him to say ‘come back in a few days time to pick it up’. I figured he must really know what he was doing when he advised me to turn up one week later for a fitting, and that the suit would be completed in about two weeks time. A week later I trundled back to his store for the fitting. My only previous experience in getting clothes tailored was at Kovalam Beach in India many years ago, and there a fitting meant trying on the garment and if it was slightly out, it was altered as necessary. With my friend in Hanoi however, it was very different. When I turned up for the fitting I was somewhat shocked when he threw over me what was not much more than a simple piece of cloth with arm holes in it, made some chalk marks on it, then said ‘come back next week’. ‘He really must know what he is doing’ I thought. And hoped! Then at the end of the second week I tried on a completed suit that I was very happy with.
With four new suits now in my wardrobe, I am probably pretty well catered for in that department. The only other item I intend to add before we leave Hanoi in a little under 2 months time is a tuxedo – I’ve not had a reason to wear one for more than 10 years now, and who knows if I ever will. But at USD140 a pop, who cares eh!! I just hope that the body shape holds .
Which brings me to some philosophical musing. I’ve never really delved into the intricacies of suits before, so I will hold my judgment on whether a USD2,000 suit from Armani can really be that much better or distinguishable from a well-tailored USD140 suit from my friend in Hanoi. Is it the difference between a Honda and a Mercedes, or is it merely a label? In my naivety I will boldly suggest it might be the later. ‘Philistine’ I hear you say!
The Art Scene
As for food and fashion, I am not going to pretend to be someone who can speak intelligently, or is knowledgeable, on the topic of art. That, I am not. I know what I like, and if I like it enough, and me lady likes it enough, and we can afford it, we will buy it. Which is quite a few boxes to tick off before making a purchase, eh . Anyway, in my ignorance, I am going to say that Hanoi has more than it’s fair share of artists. In fact, one article I read recently claimed there were 6,000 artists in this town, which sounds like a rather large number to me. There are more galleries, paintings, and painters than I’ve ever noticed before. As a city and a nation, they are very proud of their artists. Their poets, for example, ancient and new, are often immortalized and held up as heroes.
It was the École Supérieure des Beaux Arts de l’Indochine in Hanoi and other similar schools originally set up by the French around the 1920’s that can probably account for much of the 20th Century and current renaissance and style of paintings coming out of Hanoi and being exported to the rest of the country. I say “exported to the rest of the country” as much of the leading art I have seen in places like Ho Chi Minh City and Hue seems to have been created by artists who at one time or other studied their craft in Hanoi. I suspect that, now the arts scene is allowed more freedom than it was some years back, more and more artists are coming from other locations.
In the early years of communist Vietnam, the arts scene took quite a ‘creative’ hit. As with many other new socialist states struggling to find their way, art was viewed as somewhat bourgeois, and artists and their creative expression became under the suspicion of the government. Artists were required to restrict their art primarily to propaganda-based paintings, often depicting carton-like poster images of such scenes as heroic peasants shooting down B52 bombers with bowls of rice. Since Vietnam’s reforms stemming from the Doi Moi from the late 1980’s, the arts scene has seen an exuberant renaissance. These ‘renovations’ have meant a greater opening up of Vietnam to the rest of the world, and for the artists of Vietnam this will have meant two important things. First of all, Vietnamese artists are now able to get access to what artists from other parts of the world are doing and to share ideas. Secondly, and more importantly, there has been a relaxing of the restrictions on their creative expression. Now, 20 years on, the art galleries of Hanoi and Vietnam are full of wonderful contemporary and interesting modern art.
You know, in what I see as somewhat of an irony that is often witnessed in the art and fashion worlds, some artists are now drawing upon those uninspiring paintings from those propaganda years to fuel their own new paintings. Oh, how often yesterday’s nemesis is today’s inspiration! (Recall how we joked about our parents flares in our youth – then how they came back in fashion a few years back, or how 80’s music came back with abandon in the late 90’s re-packaged as ‘retro’ ).
It took me a little while to understand where the critics were coming from. There are some paintings by an artist that me lady and I liked very much when we first arrived, but we kept putting off buying one. As we explored more and more galleries, and we saw more and more of his paintings on display it dawned on us that the sheer volume of paintings that he was producing was diminishing our interest in them to the point that we lost total interest in them. We simply felt that there was nothing unique about what he was producing.
Talking about copies. As is the case with DVDs, books, and a variety of other consumer items, if you cannot afford one of the original paintings that you want in the ‘high street’ galleries, then fear not. There are plenty of minor painting shops around the place that do copies at a far reduced priced. And in most of these cases you can actually sit there and watch the copy artists paint away. While it’s pretty obvious to tell the difference between these copies and the originals, it can make for a much easier purchase decision cycle and a nice little souvenir of Hanoi. Not that I would want to encourage the copy trade ;). Actually, another cool thing that these shops can do is to copy anything that you want copied – whether that be the Mona Lisa or a family portrait. Just take a photo down, bargain a price and voila!
To date we have purchased four paintings (all originals) that we are very happy with, including very recently our first nude (well, semi nude really). The semi nude created some embarrassment with our wee girls nanny. When she first saw it she asked ‘Is that me lady?’ The answer was and is a categorical ‘No!’ – me lady and I are neither in such an open relationship as to be comfortable with her posing in front of an artist. ;)
Before we leave this town, there are two more paintings that we would like to get. Me lady has a particular affinity for the lacquer technique of painting which is quite a popular art form here in Hanoi, and she would like to purchase one before we leave. It is not a style that does much for me, but many folks love them, and it would be a very relevant souvenir of Hanoi to have hanging on our wall. As for me, I have my eyes on a lovely portrait of an elderly, ethnic minority women. For those familiar with the New Zealand artist Goldie, it was some of his portraits that came to mind when I first saw this painting. In fact, the woman would not look too out of place with a moko chiseled on her chin. I first noticed this painting about 4 months ago, and the only thing I am stuck on at the moment is the price. It’s not cheap, and would be the most expensive art purchase that I or we have made ever. But I love it! So! What do you reckon eh? Let’s see how things go over the next few months. I dropped by the gallery for the first time in a few months just last week and it is still hanging on the wall. If it’s still on the wall in 6 weeks time, then maybe I’ll just have to give into temptation and go try a little haggling.
So far I have really only talked about the paintings coming out of Hanoi, when in reality there is so much more coming out of this artistic town. Laquerware can be found everywhere. They’ve been doing it here for over 700 years apparently, so I guess they must be pretty good at it now. Whether it is functional dinnerware or ornamental sculptured pieces, there is some really lovely stuff around. Just more items we are going to have to stock up on prior to returning to Singapore. There’s some pretty good pottery around too. But I guess you can get pottery anywhere eh. Perhaps it might be a little cheaper here.
One artistic expression that has recently really got me lady and I excited is the local embroidery scene. I would never have looked at embroidery before, believing it something a bit old fashioned. But, wow, some of the stuff we have seen here is exquisite. On a recent trip to Hue, which has a tradition of embroidery, we encountered some simply stunning pieces. When I think of embroidery, I typically expect one side to have the image and the back to be a mess of loose pieces of string. Some of these items we viewed had the perfect image viewable on both sides of such a fine fabric that they look like a painting on glass. These ones are not hung on a wall, but hung on an elaborate stand that enables them to be viewed from both sides. Truly incredible! Look, I do not like to use flowery language too often, but these just blew me away. Oh, the work that must go into them. Oh, the respect I hold for the dedicated artisan – in whatever field they may be. We are going to buy one of these one day, but we will hold off for now and hopefully return to Hue in a few years time with a bit more loose change in our pocket and be very discerning in what we pick up. Plus we also need a larger house as some of the fabrics we like are massive.
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If someone were to ask me what I will miss the most about our time here in Hanoi, it would be a struggle to say exactly what that would be. Of course, there will be the leaving of good friends, the craziness of the traffic, the holidays, the images of villages surrounded by green fields and small lakes that we have cycled through and so forth. But perhaps what I would miss most would be the romance of the place. And for me, this romance is summed up in the food, fashion, and art of Hanoi. And, in so many ways, that food, fashion, and art represents all those other things I will remember Hanoi by - good friends, the craziness of the traffic, the holidays, the images of villages surrounded by green fields and small lakes that we have cycled through and so forth.
So, shall I go buy that one last painting?
