From Gaguette bread to Vietnamese bread

When I was a child, around the 60s of the last century in the South, bread was very different from now. The loaf has a small body, about 4-5cm in diameter and up to half a meter long.

Customers buy bread at a shop on Phan Dinh Phung Street, Bien Hoa City. Photo: Huy Anh According to the document, French baguette bread appeared in Hanoi since the early 20th century. Hanoians call it “Western cake” because the cake is made by the French. People from other regions in the country call it “bread” because the baking ingredient is flour. The French baguette has many anecdotes about its origins. It is said that it was made by Napoleon’s baker in the 19th century instead of the previous round loaf for soldiers to carry conveniently. Another anecdote suggests that the baguette originated in Austria, and was introduced to France in 1839 in the form of an oval. There are also people who believe that in the 1890s, French workers in those two regions often fought and used bread knives (old type) as weapons, so the contractor made long bread. need a knife. The French historian Steven Kaplan explained that because the old bread was round, weighing over 1.2kg, it took a few days to finish, so people made baguettes more compact to break and eat during the day, and had a crust to help. delicious. On the other hand, making old-fashioned bread is very laborious and time-consuming, so the new type of cake helps less labor, and the baking time is also shorter. *** In those days, the baguette was long, so no one ate “one loaf” at one time. In addition to the shops, this type of long bread is peddled on the street by charies on motorbikes or bicycles carrying boxes of wheels and all sorts of “spare parts” behind the car. The wheelie box is usually closed in aluminum in an inverted U shape, with a lid, placed on the “boggage” of the vehicle. When stopping to sell, the car is erected with a solid footrest on the rear wheel. On the inverted U-shaped aluminum box, in addition to the loaves of bread, which are still intact or half-cut, are pork skin, chopped and thin roast pork, shumai, pork sausage, spring rolls, coriander, green onions, tomatoes , sliced ​​chili, soy sauce (soy sauce), pickles, sauces, salt and pepper… In 2021, the French Ministry of Culture submitted a dossier to UNESCO to nominate French baguettes as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Buyers can ask to cut the middle or top of the loaf for themselves. Depending on the purchase price, the loaf is cut into one-third or one-quarter length. The cut is usually a 30-45 degree diagonal to the cake body. Many people like to eat simple bread (but is considered to be luxurious) sandwiched with sausage or spring rolls, or fried eggs, pork rub… sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, add coriander stalks. Also a “luxury” with half or whole shumai sandwich with chili slices, chan shumai, can be sprayed with a little soy sauce for flavor. Another “luxury” class is bread with canned fish, usually sardines. If you are poor, you can eat bread with sauce, add a little soy sauce or maybe baguette. Normal and medium is bread filled with meat, tamarind. Street vendors are usually men, but rarely see women. They cut the cake, add the filling according to the customer’s request, before adding the sauce, they often ask “Can you remove the chili?”. Finally, they took a pre-cut piece of newspaper (or old school paper from the student) wrapped around the piece of cake, adding an elastic band to the outside. Receiving money, they always smile for the love of “God”, especially with the children on the way to school. Sweetened condensed milk sandwiches like “Ong Tho Milk” are children’s favorites. Many children also like to make a cup of hot milk and then break the bread to eat it. This way of eating comes from the program of the Ministry of Education that day, providing a light breakfast for elementary school students with bread and milk “Foremost” mixed in a glass. This is also a dish of patients during recovery because it is easy to digest and has nutrients. My childhood was associated with baguettes with tails, skins, chopped roast pork, pickles, sauces and no chili. On days when I had to be treated for illness, I tore bread into small pieces and put it in a glass of milk and then scooped it up with a spoon. The aftertaste of the last part of the cake is rarely mixed with the filling and sauce of ordinary bread, and the sweet aroma of the milk of the sick days at that time, as if still somewhere in me. *** Bread is processed by Vietnamese people in bakeries with the main ingredient being flour (some places add a small percentage of rice flour). After kneading the dough, adding baking powder, the cake is molded into small loaves, the top is covered with a layer of sugar water to create a light yellow color for the crust. Each loaf is also slit from 1-3 lines to allow the dough to expand and the cake after baking has 1-3 “eyes”. French bread served to delegates attending a ceremony to celebrate the Independence Day of the French Republic (July 14) at the Consulate General of France in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Luong Xuan Tuyen Bread now still has a French baguette-style long cake or a smaller baguette, which is limited in some supermarkets (such as Cora before, BigC…). Most bread today makes one serving, about an arm’s length in length. Depending on the bakery and the taste of the eater, there are types of bread with crispy crust, soft and hollow intestines for easy filling; bread “scented with butter”… There are also palm-sized cakes, thin slices… The filling now has butter, cheese spread on the inside of the cake before adding the filling, then the pate, sausage, western style; There are banh lou, Chinese style char siu… In addition, there are also vegetarian sandwiches to meet the needs of vegetarians. Bicycles carrying the rear bread box for sale are almost gone, instead there are bread carts with a metal frame wrapped in aluminum below, three sides of glass on the top for buyers to see. cakes, attractive “stuffing” plates are placed inside. Some bread carts also allow their brand to be painted on the front glass, or a slogan. These bread carts are often located at fixed locations with many visitors such as roadside or market gate, theater… There are also shops where customers eat and sit with decent tables and chairs, specializing in a bread dish, usually is with shumai, sausages and most commonly an “omelette” with one or two eggs, or bread served with beef steak… Many bakeries sell cakes with fillings and water. their own special sauce, put in a paper bag printed with the shop’s brand, with toothpicks or small plastic cups of coke… for customers to “take away”. There is a bakery selling online, delivering goods in the amount of a few dozen loaves, free of “chips” for customers. In tourist areas, they often sell ice cream sandwiches, in the style of ice cream sandwiches in some countries. The cake is a small loaf the size of a palm or bread slices, ice cream is of all kinds depending on the customer’s choice. Recently, bread has also appeared in special forms such as: dragon fruit bread, charcoal bread … but it seems to be just a “movement” item with no signs of lasting long… Besides the popular bread as mentioned, there are also Hamburger bread, sweet worm-shaped bread, bit-cot bread (the old bread is baked again) while chewing while listening to the sound of crispy crispy bread, bread coated with white granulated sugar or cotton wool… Bread appears in parties or in family meals, served with curry, ra-gu… (chicken, duck, goat, beef, ostrich…). At noodle shops, noodle soup has pho or beef noodle soup served with bread. Banh mi is also available in noodle shops, noodle shops, and noodle shops to satisfy some people’s taste, the rest is considered as an “anti-hunger” side dish! *** In 2011, the term “banh mi” written in Vietnamese appeared in the Oxford dictionary with the caption: “A type of bread consisting of a cake with many different ingredients, usually meat, vegetables and chili”. Bread originated from Europe and imported to our country, but today, it has returned to its original origin with a new name, “Vietnamese bread” or “Saigon bread”, in the form of a loaf with filling. just one serving. Vietnamese bread in the US is considered a sandwich of this country. Many “Vietnamese bread” and “Saigon bread” shops have been opened in the capitals of France, England, Germany, etc., showing the attraction of dishes prepared by Vietnamese hands, second only to “Vietnamese noodle soup”. oversea.