Here is how the dinner table looks. Click on the photo to get a really big image. If you check closely, you can see that there is a mixture of European with the Asian. The French did many bad things to the Vietnamese culture, but luckily they introduced both coffee, bread, and silverware. While most of the countryside use only chopsticks, here at the bishop's house we also have knives, forks, and spoons. The food is completely fresh, nothing frozen, and it is delicious. There is little seasoning, so one can taste the real vegetables and meat. Almost everything is cooked, mostly boiled. The napkins in the cup are for me (a nod to my American need to keep my face from getting too messy). The big bowls contain rice, the best rice because it comes from a field near Phat Diem.
In fact, as I walk and travel around the village, I can see where everything is grown. Yesterday we had corn on the cob grown right outside my room. Here is a picture of the corn field. It's not quite as high as an elephant's eye, but it certainly makes good corn. The shrimp are grown locally as are the crab. In America, meat never looks like it did when it was alive, but not so here. Crabs come boiled whole and you have to tear them apart. The shrimp look at you with their big black eyes and they are eaten legs and all. But in the end, it is all good for you and people tend to stay healthier because of it.
Here is how the dinner table looks. Click on the photo to get a really big image. If you check closely, you can see that there is a mixture of European with the Asian. The French did many bad things to the Vietnamese culture, but luckily they introduced both coffee, bread, and silverware. While most of the countryside use only chopsticks, here at the bishop's house we also have knives, forks, and spoons. The food is completely fresh, nothing frozen, and it is delicious. There is little seasoning, so one can taste the real vegetables and meat. Almost everything is cooked, mostly boiled. The napkins in the cup are for me (a nod to my American need to keep my face from getting too messy). The big bowls contain rice, the best rice because it comes from a field near Phat Diem.
In fact, as I walk and travel around the village, I can see where everything is grown. Yesterday we had corn on the cob grown right outside my room. Here is a picture of the corn field. It's not quite as high as an elephant's eye, but it certainly makes good corn. The shrimp are grown locally as are the crab. In America, meat never looks like it did when it was alive, but not so here. Crabs come boiled whole and you have to tear them apart. The shrimp look at you with their big black eyes and they are eaten legs and all. But in the end, it is all good for you and people tend to stay healthier because of it.
