| Abstract: |
Sticky rice plays an important role in Vietnamese life and culture. Based mainly on popular oral tradition, this ethnocultural study first focuses on two most illustrious traditional sticky-rice cakes, the banh giay and the banh chung, consumed during the Tet festival, possibly since the mythical times of the Hung kings (2nd-1st millenia B.C.). Another famous delicacy, the com Vong from Ha Noi, made of milky sticky rice, is eaten during the Mid-autumn festival. Many myths and legends refer to its preparation. While com is mostly popular among rural lowland Vietnamese, ethnic minorities, in the North as well as in the South, make similar cakes, and the Vietnamese diaspora has retained a craving for sticky rice.
|
