A new government body will champion your favourite Vietnamese dishes

Vietnamese cuisine is getting the recognition it deserves.

Of course, we're Team Pho. Source: Benito Martin

If there was some kind of culinary hall of fame, Vietnamese food would surely be an early inductee. After all, it’s the cuisine we have to thank for pho, the noodle soup to end all noodle soups.

In a bid to put an official stamp on the varied and numerous merits of the cuisine, the Vietnamese Ministry for Home Affairs last year ruled in favour of establishing a government body to preserve and promote Vietnamese cuisine and culture. Our only question is this: what took them so long?

The new executive committee, the Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association (VCCA) comprises 300 members from all over the country, all working towards the shared aim of "preserving, developing and promoting Vietnamese cuisine to the world".

Pho: a Vietnamese dish worth championing. (China Squirrel) Source: China Squirrel

In a debut ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City earlier this month, the Association announced an action plan for the 2018-2022 period, which prioritises food research, education and training of younger generations, and boosting Vietnam’s tourism industry through advertising Vietnamese food internationally. Dream job alert.

“Promoting cuisine culture will help promote cultural and tourism development,” Mr Nguyen Quoc Ky, president of the VCCA says. “We need to develop a plan to promote Vietnamese food overseas.”

Promoting cuisine culture will help promote cultural and tourism development. We need to develop a plan to promote Vietnamese food overseas.

Also on the agenda for the coming years: festivals to honour classic Vietnamese food like pho, nem (spring rolls) and bun cha (grilled pork with noodles and fish sauce), cook and bartender training schools, a Vietnam Cuisine Culture museum, and a Vietnamese gastronomy research centre to be unveiled in Ho Chi Minh city.

Spring rolls will be honoured and protected. (Chris Chen) Source: Chris Chen

The VCCA will work closely with other branches of government, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and presumably, will make sure banh mi is treated with the reverence it deserves from now until forever.

Details about VCCA’s online presence haven't yet been released, but stay tuned.      

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