Hanoi (VNA) – Local food is amongthe key tourism attractions for any destination. Most people like to enjoytraditional and special dishes at restaurants. Many others choose to join localcooking classes to make food themselves.
Maggie – a German tourist - and her travelgroup, joined a cooking class right after arriving in Vietnam. She wants tolearn about Vietnamese traditional food, not only in terms of flavour andtaste, but also the recipes.
“I like going to the market here. It is verybig, bigger than in Germany. There are so many products,” said Maggie.
Maggie likes to cook Pho (beef noodle soup)and Bun Cha (noodle with grilled pork), two Vietnamese signature dishes.
“This is the first time I cook Pho. It is sointeresting to cook a local dish myself. I believe it will taste good,” Maggie said.
Maggie is among the six foreign tourists whojoined a cooking class hosted by Rose Kitchen to learn more about the country’sgastronomic art.
Cooking class for tourists is becomingpopular in tourism destinations, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang City,among others. The model helps draw more and more tourists to Vietnam,particularly foreigners.
Rose Kitchen, established in 2017, is one ofthe well-known classes. It is highly recommended by international tourismwebsite TripAdvisor.
Tran Quang, founder of Rose Kitchen said heset up Rose Kitchen to bring Vietnamese food closer to foreigners.
“Vietnamese food is already popularworldwide. Our chefs not only teach foreign visitors how to cook Vietnamesedishes themselves, but also teach them how to decorate the dishes and ensurefood hygiene,” Quang said.
Maggie’s group had a good time, shoppingingredients in Vietnamese traditional market and making Vietnamese dishesthemselves.
“I like it very much. The food is delicious.I will cook in Germany, but I believe it is very difficult to slice ingredientsinto such small pieces,” Christine, another particpant said.
Meanwhile, Jessica, another member in theGerman travel group, was happy to know some little secrete in Vietnamese Phowhen she learnt the recipe.
“It is so interesting. I didn’t know that weneed cinnamon in Pho,” said Jessica.
Vietnamese cuisine makes up an importantpart of Vietnamese culture.
Vietnamese signature dishes, namely Pho, Bun Cha, Nem (springroll), Chung Cake (Sticky rice squared cake), among others, have their presencein almost every tourism promotion event abroad.
Their unique taste and diversity attract international foodlovers, bloggers and media.
Vietnamese food is becoming a significant tourism motivation,drawing visitors to Vietnam, particularly international ones.
The number of international tourist arrivals to Vietnam inthe third quarter of this year increased 14.9 percent against the same periodlast year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Tourists from Asia rose 27.2 percent; Europe, 9.8 percent;America, 12.5 percent; Oceania, 6.3 percent; and Africa, 19.5 percent.
The US has remained one of Vietnam’s top five tourism marketswith the number of vacationers to the country exceeding 614,000 in 2017, up 11percent against 2016.
As of August 2018, Vietnam had served 486,000 USholiday-makers, a year-on-year increase of 14.5 percent.-VNA