February 2015 - Cai Be Vietnam
On our fabulous Mekong river cruise we made a stop in the town of Cai Be. I wrote about our day at the market here and the fun time we had trying to shop in a foreign language on a budget.
I absolutely love visiting food markets around the world!!! The smells, the exotic, the mundane and especially these lovely women.
This one seems to sell everything you could need.
Here are more photos from the fabulous market *warning - not for the faint of heart*!!
The market is set on the side of a busy street so you had to have your wits about you as motor scooters darted in and out of the crowd.
The rich fertile earth of the Mekong delta makes this the "rice bowl of the country".
Vietnam is the second-largest rice exporter in the world (after Thailand).
Vietnamese food has been influenced by French colonization, which began with missionaries arriving in the eighteenth century and didn't end until 1954. Banh mi foundation is a crusty French baguette and the insides are often slathered with meat paste, But the Vietnamese have taken this sandwich and made it entirely their own with grilled pork fillings, fish patties, sardines, cilantro, chili-spiced carrots and daikon.
Very busy places!
ReplyDeletewow, what an incredible variety. Not sure I'm brave enough for bugs ....
ReplyDeleteSo very interesting and such a variety of fruits (I guess). I bet the smells were amazing (and probably not all good?). It was odd to see the "feet" still on the poultry. But I don't like to see "eyes" on my fish either. LOL
ReplyDeleteMy husband used to work with this Vietnamese lady and she used to bring some of the most amazing food to his workplace to share. We helped her with her taxes one year and she gave us some wonderful and very tasty treats. I'm not even sure what they were exactly, but they tasted fabulous. :-)
Fabulous! Did you smell the durian in there, and looked like noni (photo #6) we get those at our Hilo Farmer's Market as well. You always know when someone's got durian, just walking up to the market.
ReplyDeleteI must admit the thought of meat sitting around in a hot climate unrefrigerated does my head in a bit! But your pics are fabulous. Cheers from Carole's Chatter
ReplyDeleteA lot to see, some of it a little disconcerting though ;)
ReplyDeleteHappy cooking
Shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
Beautiful pictures! My husband has been tutoring some Vietnamese adult students in English and has become interested in Vietnamese cooking through them. He has tried several new recipes (pretty complex) and has also incorporated some of the flavors and ingredients into his everyday cooking.
ReplyDeleteI love visiting food markets when I travel, too. This blog post was fascinating. What wonderful pictures and what a great memory of your trip.
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