Round Mass of Food: Vietnamese Basics

Vietnam does ordinary food extraordinarily well. There isn't anything complex or delicate about it: no hint of this or dash of that. The best dishes are straight-forward, simple.

Let's start with breakfast. The French left behind them an appreciation of good bread in the morning. Fresh baguettes are a staple, either as a stand-alone dish or as an addition to the main meal. Their insides are light and airy, while their crusts are flaky and crunchy. These baguette should be ripped and torn. They should be pulled apart - slowly. On little side plates with a sliver of butter, they are event in themselves.

Bread, though, is only the beginning of the food available on the breakfast menu. Vietnam offers fruit shakes made from mouth-popping banana and pineapple and mango, fried eggs that sometimes come, marvellously, with soy and chili sauce on top, and thick, rich coffee in the sun. It's easy to let temptation win on a Vietnamese morning.

After a few hours of seeing the sights, I sit down for lunch and, more often than not, choose spring rolls. There are the greasy rolls from a roadside stall in Hanoi, perfect for insatiable munching. There is the lovely mix of bean sprouts and ground meat from a cafe near the war museum in Saigon. There are the chunky and dense rolls from the Banana Split Cafe in Nha Trang. Meat (or vegetables) wrapped in rice paper and lightly deep-fried: a simple Vietnamese food that tastes good and fills a gap.

For dinner, I favour pho and my favourite bowl comes from Hanoi. An old woman, stooped and toothy, sits on her stool and stretches a portion of fresh rice noodle from the pile. She throws it with green onion and cilantro and either chicken or duck in a bowl and ladles boiling hot water over everything. On the table, slices of chili peppers and mini-oranges provide extra flavouring. The old woman sits on her stool and makes the perfect bowl of noodle soup day after day.

(Here I pause for a minor indictment. Farther away from Hanoi, and particularly in Saigon, many cafes have a disturbing habit of using instant noodles in their pho. Bowls come out with the noodles still breaking out of their blocky posture. Pho is better in the north.)

There are other dishes, of course. Vietnam has its share of fried rice and fried noodle and stir fry dishes. But this country has most success with the basics. Basic ingredients, basic preparation - put noodles, greens and meat in a bowl with hot water and serve; place a baguette on a plate and bring it to the table. Basic food, wonderful taste.