Published:  09:28 Wednesday - February 20, 2013

The first thing tourists experience when they arrive in a country is the food. They can learn a lot from what they eat. It can explain the cultural values of a nation.<br>

A long queue of customers at a Pho shop is a familiar sight for residents in the ancient quarter of Hanoi. On a day close to the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival, this restaurant received a group of special guests.

They are international chefs from the US, France and Indonesia. Despite the long queue, they showed no sign of impatience. For them, tasting Vietnamese Pho is an experience that cannot be missed.

After enjoying the traditional Vietnamese dish, the chefs asked a local cook to take them to a market to discover what goes into the dish. They also learnt to cook some other traditional dishes.

People working in tourism say food is o­ne of the most important attractions for tourists.

Nguyen Quoc Ky, CEO of Vietravel, said that two of the world’s top ten street dishes belong to Vietnam and it indicates that local cuisine is likely to become a national tourism trademark.

It can be said that Vietnamese cuisine already has a firm place in international friends’ hearts.

Cook Phan Thi Tuyet stressed that Vietnamese traditional food is a balance of yin and yang.

She said international students at her cooking class share the view that Vietnamese food is a wonderful harmony of meat and vegetable and that it is not too hot or too heavy and that is good for health.

Vietnam ’s cuisine was ranked third in a list of the 10 healthiest ethnic cuisines compiled by CNN. It stands after o­nly that of Greece and Californiafresh food. It shows how highly Vietnamese cuisine is valued around the world.

DLO