London (VNA) – An event titled “A Day in a Vietnamese Kitchen” was held in Oxford on August 22, offering visitors an immersive journey into Vietnam’s culinary culture.
Rather than a conventional exhibition, the event recreated the rhythm of a Vietnamese day through familiar dishes, including pandan sticky rice, bun rieu (crab noodle soup), banh cuon (steamed rolled pancakes) and sweet black bean dessert cooked with palm sugar.
Each visitor received a “journey card” and collected woodblock stamps at different food stalls, encouraging them to explore the flavours of Vietnamese cuisine.
Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Do Minh Hung said multifaceted cooperation between Vietnam and the UK had developed positively in recent years, with Oxford playing an important role in promoting collaboration in innovation, high technology, research and development.
Building on this foundation, the embassy and the Vietnamese community in Oxford chose cuisine as a bridge connecting people, he said, expressing his hope that the event would strengthen solidarity among Vietnamese people in the UK, promote Vietnam’s traditional culture to British friends and foster friendship and mutual understanding between the two peoples.
The Ambassador’s spouse, Dang Tu Anh, said the kitchen was often the heart of a Vietnamese family, where meals were prepared with care, memories shared and generations brought together.
“Every dish that comes from that kitchen carries a story – about family and community, regional traditions, and the bond between the past and the present,” she said.
Nguyen Huong Tra, who brought her daughter to the event, said the recreated scene, with green trees, street vendors and thatched roofs, made her feel as though she had “returned to her homeland”. She was particularly moved that her daughter could experience familiar elements of Vietnamese village life that even trips back to Vietnam might not always provide.
For Heidi Bennett, a former Vietnamese student who has lived in the UK for more than 20 years, the event offered a valuable opportunity for children born and raised abroad to taste the flavours of their homeland and nurture a desire to return to Vietnam.
Professor Proochista Ariana of Oxford likened each Vietnamese dish to a small ambassador carrying centuries of history, family and homeland, saying Vietnam had long mastered the art of bringing people together around a shared table.
She expressed her hope that the event would be the first of many occasions when Vietnam and its British friends could share experiences “in the kitchen, in the lecture hall and in the laboratory”
Professor Catherine Green, who visited Ho Chi Minh City earlier this year, said the event reminded her of “the warmth, hospitality and joy of the Vietnamese people”, adding that such encounters help bring the two sides closer and lay the foundations for future cooperation./.
