by Chef Eric J. Means

Created on: March 11, 2009

Vietnam is the pearl of Indo China. The Vietnamese have a long history, which has been mostly wrought with war, subjugation and colonization. Peace has not been an element of Vietnamese life for centuries, until modern times. Being under the control of so many different entities for centuries has certainly affected the nation as a whole. There must have been great hardship and sacrifice, which is represented, in traditional Vietnamese cuisine. The availability to produce food and subsist would surely have been supplemented with influence from the outside world. However, in many cases, the outside influence has reinforced a sense of pride in Vietnamese culture and outside western influences where subsequently rejected.

The development and distribution of wealth have been minimal but also major factors in the determination of the standard of living in Vietnam. Buddhist philosophical views and in later years the introduction of Communism helped to define Vietnam as we know it today. Let us investigate the major factors both historical and traditional, which have contributed to the development of Vietnamese culture and cuisine. Since 111 BCE, the Vietnamese culture had been locked in a seemingly endless conflict with China
in particular and at times even taking the upper hand. At one point, the Vietnamese had control of Chinese territory all the way up to Canton
in Southern China. At this time it was easier to defeat the Chinese as they where separated into a series of competing Dynasties. Not until 939 BCE, did the Vietnamese liberate themselves from Chinese rule. For the next one thousand years, the Vietnamese people successfully repelled periodic attacks from China, Khmer, Cham and the Mongols.

In 1651 A Jesuit priest by the name of Alexandres de Rhodes helps to create a written language for the Vietnamese. "Jesuit Alexandres de Rhodes publishes in Roma a Latin Vietnamese catechism and creates the Ngoc Ngu, the roman-based script currently used for Vietnamese (Vietnam is only one of three countries in Asia which uses a roman-based script)." Quang-Tuan Luong 2001) this is one of the most significant points in Vietnamese history as they are now able to record their own history.

In 1858, the French Navy invades Da Nang, this is the first appearance of the French as an aggressor. In 1883, Southern Vietnam becomes a French colony. After decades of French meddling in Vietnam the French rule of the North in 1945, ends with the help of the Japanese. In 1954, the Vietnamese

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