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To Vietnamese people, family meal has been one of the unique cultural features. Since the ancient time, it has become a very familiar thing that whenever we go far away, we think about it with high regard.

Whenever he is away from his home,,
He always misses water morning glory soup and salted aubergine.
( Anh đi anh nhớ quê nhà

nhớ canh rau muống nhớ cà dầm tương.)

In spite of its simplicity, family meal is very important to every Vietnamese family, and the Vietnamese's eating way has many interesting characteristics.

A Family meal is like an intangible string that makes family members closer. It is the way to get everyone together to talk over the happenings of the day or discuss upcoming family plans or events. They sit around a round table and share the same kinds of food. At that time, delicious food is given to the elderly and the children who are paid much attention to. Sharing good food for the elderly and the children is intentional not compulsory. It shows affection among family members.

Vietnamese traditional family meal also concerns profound and faithful love between husband and wife. A folk song says:

Shrimp feeler cooked with gourd entrails
Husband and wife suck, feel it tasty.

(Râu tôm nấu với ruột bầu

Chồng chan vợ húp gật đầu khen ngon.)

No matter how poor their meal is, they enjoy it happily. The meal is simple but implies a profound love.

In addition, a family meal is a cultural environment and space that addresses preserving and improving traditional values. A proverb says: "Learn to eat, learn to speak, learn to trap, and learn to open". At the meal, the elderly teach their children ethnic standards and proper behaviors to others. We all are conveyed traditional values, customs, and etiquettes by our ancestors. Then, as an eternal rule, we teach our children these traditional values.

It is much supposed that Vietnamese people's way of eating is unique. There are some characteristics in the way of eating of the Vietnamese.

Eating wholly

First, people eat by their eyes. Therefore, the food is very colorful. For example, a dish of chicken salad consists the white of bean sprout, cabbages and chicken, the green of basils, the red of chilies and carrots, and the brown -yellow of fried peanuts. Sometime the shape of food is made like shape of animals such as dragon and phoenix. After eyeing the food, they enjoy it by nose. They smell flavors emitted out from basils, especially from fish sauce. Their teeth touch soft vermicelli, tough boiled pork, and brittle peanuts. Then through their ears, they hear the crackle of peanuts. Finally, they taste a variety of spices mixed in dish including sour, salt, sweet, bitter, and hot. They enjoy food by using the five senses. That is called "eating wholly".

Eating Scientifically

According to research, the food, which belongs to Yin and Yang, is healthy. Generally, the salty food belongs to Yang, and the sour and sweet one belongs to Yin. In the process of cooking, Vietnamese people usually mix Yin food with Yang food. In a bowl of fish sauce, for example, fish sauce, chilies, garlic are Yang; lemon, sugar are Yin. On eating watermelon, or drinking coconut water, people usually pour some salt into them to reduce the sweet. When eating grapefruit, Western people dip it into sugar. That is non-scientific because Yin is more than Yang. Most scientists approve Vietnamese's way, eating grapefruit with salt.  In addition, the Vietnamese care the balance between Yin and Yang in food in treating illnesses. For instance, when we get a cold, we eat ginger gruel; when we get temperature, we eat green onion gruel. That's because we must eat ginger (Yang) to deal with the cold (Yin); we eat green onion (Yin) to deal with heat (Yang).

Free eating

In Vietnamese meal, everyone has their own bowl, and dishes are put on the middle. Therefore, each one can eat whatever they want. They do not have to eat reluctantly what they dislike. Beside, they can eat very little or very much, which depends on their digestion. In most Western countries, people tend to eat everything on their meal in order to show politeness although they sometime don't like the food very much. Clearly, people will take more pleasure in Vietnamese's way of eating.

Community eating

On the dinning table, cooked rice, soup and especially fish sauce are put on the middle so that everyone can share food together. Remember that Vietnamese people are the only people that pour soup into their bowls of rice. The food like meat or cereals is subdivided into pieces so that it is easy for everyone to take them. Moreover, everyone often takes food for others.

Polite eating

Due to community eating above, Vietnamese people eat in a slim and polite way. People say: "Ăn trông nồi, ngồi trông hướng". That means we must aware which seat is suitable and how to eat politely. At the beginning of the meal, the children must invite their grandparent and parent to eat first. They try not to pour food onto the table.

In short, family meal is significant to us, Vietnamese people. We are proud of the eating way that is not only whole, scientific but also free, community and polite. No matter how much the society has been changing, family meal remains itself traditional values that this generation need to preserve carefully. Do appreciate the period of family union at every meal.