Hanoi wedding banquet in the old days

Hanoi is the gathering destination of Vietnam elite in cuisine. The gastronomy here for thousands year has formed a unique style, in which a wedding feast can partly say its story.

Hanoians are considered difficult in eating, especially in special occasion. At these times, meals were not focused only because of the sake or eating, but also of expressing the characteristic and images of the host families. For a wedding, making an excellent banquet is always one of the top priorities. 

Chicken is a must in Vietnam wedding banquet

In a wedding banquet of rich families, each table had 10 dishes since people at that time believed that number 10 represents for forever happiness. 6 of them included one for chicken, one for pork settled in flower shapes, one for Vietnamese pork sausages, one for cinnamon rolls, one for mixed salad and the last for Xôi gấc (sticky rice dyed with baby jackfruit). In four corners of the table were 4 bowls of soups with bamboo shoot soup, pork soup, pigeon soup with lotus seed and one mixed soup (various ingredient such as carrot, eggs, Vietnamese pork sausages and dried squirt). Some families had another dish. 

Xôi gấc is a symbol of rich fertility

Wedding feast of normal families were simpler, with about 6 to 8 dishes each table. However, boiled chicken and xôi gấc were indispensable, because they are symbols of fertility, the most importance of any couple.

As time goes by, the rapid international integration has gradually formed new wedding feast styles, with more western things added. However at the same time, Hanoians feel regret for what they had in the past and some of them are trying come back the way they used to go on.