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Beyond the baguette: France s food legacy in Vietnam

2018-06-22T02:38:22Z

PhyllisPigdon87:

It has been more than six decades since the end of French colonial rule in Vietnam, but when President Francois Hollande arrives this week he'll struggle to avoid a quintessential legacy of his country's rule: the baguette. Smeared with pate and loaded with fresh coriander and cucumber, or just enjoyed with a pat of fresh butter, "banh mi" are a delicious symbol of Vietnam's lasting links with its former occupiers. "The French were very proud of banh mi. I think French cuisine has had a lot of influence on Vietnamese cuisine," baker Nguyen Ngoc Hoan told AFP from his busy boulangerie in Hanoi's French Quarter. 'Banh mi' are displayed for sale on a sidewalk in central Hanoi �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) Hoan started baking banh mi -- which refers to plain bread or the popular "petit pain" loaded with meat, vegetables or fried egg -- in 1987 and five years later got a stint at the bakery in the storied Metropole hotel, built by the French at the turn of the 20th century. The sandwich has become a foodie favourite in hipster enclaves around the globe, sold from [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] food trucks and sipped with craft beer in both its classic form and a flurry of new varieties. Hoan's father was also a baker but discouraged his son from following in his floured footsteps. "The baking profession chose me, it was not my decision," Hoan said, speaking in front of a wall of ovens as his workers tirelessly knead dough nearby. He started his career baking what he called Vietnamese bread -- airy on the inside, crusty on the outside -- but after training with a French baker in Shanghai decided to switch to the denser French-style. Now, he churns out thousands of warm baguettes daily, along with croissants, creme caramel and homemade pate. - 'Petit pain' - French bread was first made in Vietnam to feed hungry soldiers in Indochina, France's empire which spanned much of Southeast Asia from 1858 to its crushing defeat in the Dien Bien Phu battle in Vietnam in 1954. But the French became known for more than food, gaining a brutal reputation for crushing anti-imperialist movements and putting Vietnamese laborers to work in gruelling conditions on rubber plantations, while heavily taxing citizens during periods of drought and famine. Most French who came to Vietnam weren't interested in low-level jobs like baking. To fill the gap, Chinese and Vietnamese worked in boulangeries -- often hidden away in the back so customers wouldn't know who was baking their bread. "By 1910, little baguettes or 'petit pain' were sold in the street to (Vietnamese) people who were on their way to work," according to Erica Peters, food historian and author of "Appetites and Aspirations in Vietnam". In the years that followed, meat, vegetables or fish appeared in the bread [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] -- precursors to the modern-day banh mi sold all over Hanoi, a city rife with French colonial architecture, bistros and cafes. Other culinary influences leaked in too. Local cooks used meat scraps and unused bones from French butchers to create pho -- the national dish of beef or chicken noodle soup, according to Peters. Coffee and creme caramel are some of the other French culinary leftovers. The ubiquity of those influences will not be lost on President Hollande, who arrives late Monday for talks with Vietnam's leadership and French businessmen. - Hybrid cuisine - Today, Vietnam's commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City is dotted with chic cafes serving croque monsieur and macarons at Paris prices. But the $1 banh mi still rules Hanoi's street food scene. It is so engrained in Vietnam's culinary culture that few draw its lineage back to France. "I don't know and don't care whether it's French, I just serve it like this," said Nguyen Thi Duc Hanh, sitting in front of her shop as the lunchtime rush begins. She sells hundreds per day and keeps her menu simple: banh mi served with pate and a fried egg, beef steak or her very own version of "boeuf au vin" made with local spices. One of her regulars, Nguyen Van Binh, said he has been eating banh mi for 50 years, and unlike Hanh, thinks of it as a hybrid dish. "Banh mi came from France but it was changed and adapted to suit Vietnamese tastes," said Binh, before digging into his fried egg and pate served with a crusty roll. A street [http://Mondediplo.com/spip.php?page=recherche&recherche=vendor%20sits vendor sits] in front of 'Hoan Boulangerie' shop in Hanoi �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) An employee prepares to bake croissants at 'Hoan Boulangerie' in Hanoi �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) Local Vietnamese cooks used meat scraps and unused bones from French butchers to create pho - the national dish of beef or chicken noodle soup �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP/File) An employee prepares a 'banh mi' for sale at 'Banh Mi Phuc' restaurant in Hanoi �Hoang Dinh Nam (AFP) Advertisement

Former Thai foreign minister Thanat Khoman dies at age 101

2018-06-21T21:20:04Z

PhyllisPigdon87:

BANGKOK (AP) - Thanat Khoman, who as Thailand's foreign minister helped cement his country's close relations with the United States during the Vietnam War, has died at age 101, his family announced. His death was attributed to natural causes. U.S. diplomats who dealt with Thanat described him admiringly as shrewd and above all, dedicated to seeking advantage for his country. Shifting international politics saw Thanat move from being an advocate of close links to Washington to a promoter of regional balance by establishing relations with China, which had been a Cold War bogeyman. "He defended Thailand's interests with grit and grace," U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Glyn Davies said in a statement after Thanat's death Thursday. FILE - In this Oct. 3, 1961, file photo, then-Thailand's Foreign Minister Thanat Khomanthen, left, talks with then-U.S. President John F. Kennedy at the White House in Washington. Thanat, who as Thailand�s foreign minister helped cement his country's close relations with the United States during the Vietnam War, has died at age 101, his family announced Friday, March [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm], 2016. His death was attributed to natural causes. (AP Photo/Bill Allen, File) Thanat is credited with being a major force behind the 1967 founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional grouping which this year is seeking to evolve into a full-fledged ASEAN Economic Community. After working in the Foreign Ministry under three military dictatorships, Thanat entered politics, serving as leader of the Democrat Party, the country's oldest, in 1979-82 and as a deputy prime minister in 1980-82 before withdrawing from public life. Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai described Thanat on Friday as "visionary and ... very determined in protect the interests of our country." Born on May 9, 1914, Thanat studied law at the University of Paris before joining the Thai Foreign Ministry in 1940 and serving in his country's embassy in Japan, which after occupying Thailand in World War II became its nominal ally. Returning to Thailand before the war ended, he joined the anti-Japanese underground. He resumed his diplomatic career with a posting in Washington in 1946-47, returning there as ambassador in 1957-58. He was named foreign minister in 1959, a job he held until 1971, when he was dismissed in a move thought to be linked to his advocacy of rapprochement with China. Thanat's name is most closely associated with the Rusk-Thanat Communique of 1962 - issued with then-U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk - which pledged that the United States would come to Thailand's aid in case it faced aggression. Communist advances in neighboring Laos were the impetus for the agreement, whose importance for both countries grew as communist forces stepped up pressure in South Vietnam as well. The agreement drew Thailand closely into the American orbit, indirectly leading to massive amounts of development aid and the stationing of tens of thousands of U.S. military personnel at air bases around the country used for missions against Vietnam. But when Thanat realized by the end of the 1960s that Washington was unlikely to stick it out in Vietnam, he began urging a realignment of Thailand's foreign relations to win China's favor. Diplomatic relations were established with China in 1975, after [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh 5 ngày 4 đêm từ Hà Nội] Thailand's military rulers had been ousted and U.S.-backed governments in neighboring Indochina were defeated by communist forces. By 1976, the U.S. military was gone. "Thanat Khoman was a convinced nationalist and worked well with the United States, as long as he felt the relationship was mutually beneficial," veteran [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] U.S. diplomat John Gunther Dean [http://Www.Lifebeyondtourism.org/?header_search=recalled recalled] in a 2000 oral history interview for the State Department. "As time went on, Thanat's close relationship with the United States became progressively more strained and he became vocally critical of the U.S. on many subjects." "Thanat favored Asians working together in their own national interest and not relying on one single foreign power for leadership," said Dean, the U.S. envoy to Thailand in 1981-85. Thanat, whose survivors include daughter-in-law Sirilaksana Khoman, a leading anti-corruption activist, is to be cremated after traditional Buddhist funeral rites. Advertisement

April breaks heat records 12th month in a row for global heat

2018-06-21T19:09:58Z

PhyllisPigdon87:

Last month was the hottest April in modern history, marking the 12th consecutive month that global heat records have been shattered, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. "The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for April 2016 was the highest for the month of April in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880," the agency said in a statement. "This marks the 12th consecutive month the monthly global temperature record has been broken, the longest such streak in the 137-year record." A cow stands in a dried up pond in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, which is reeling from years of below-par monsoon rains �Money Sharma (AFP/File) The report, issued each month by NOAA, also pointed to a concerning spike in temperature last month, compared to the 20th century average. The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April was 1.98 Fahrenheit (1.10 Celsius) above the 20th century average of 56.7 F (13.7 C). This marked "the highest temperature departure for April since global records began in 1880." Overall, 13 of 15 of these record spikes, or monthly temperature departures, have occurred since February 2015, [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html du lịch Bắc Kinh] signaling that global [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html tour bắc kinh từ hà nội] warming is accelerating. Unusually warm temperatures were seen across much of the world, but particularly in Russia and Alaska, where temperatures were 5.4 F (3.0 C) or more above average, said NOAA. An "exceptional heat wave" swept across the Indochina peninsula, and Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, and Thailand also set new national maximum temperature records for April, the report said. Northern and central South America and parts of southern Europe, western and central Africa, eastern Australia, southern Alaska, and the Caribbean also saw temperatures climb. Cooler than average weather was seen last month in northeastern Canada and southern South America. - Records upon [https://www.Google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=records&btnI=lucky records] - Experts say global warming is at least partially to blame for a number of environmental disasters around the world, from the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef to the wildfires raging across Canada. Last year marked the hottest on record, beating 2014 which previously held the title. With 12 months in a row now setting records for heat, 2016 -- though not quite half over yet -- is on track to be another scorching year. The World Bank said earlier this week that the global community is not prepared for a swift increase in climate change related natural disasters -- such as floods and droughts -- which will by 2050 put 1.3 billion people at risk. - El Nino fading - The El [http://www.dict.cc/?s=Nino%20weather Nino weather] phenomenon, which tends to warm up equatorial waters in the Pacific, is on the decline but may have contributed to the [http://www.vtr.org.vn/cam-nang-du-lich-bac-kinh-5-ngay-4-dem.html vtr.org.vn] record set over the last four months together. "A record warm January, February, March, and April resulted in the highest global land and ocean average temperature for January-April at 2.05 F (1.14 C) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report. The last four months were hotter than the same period in 2015, and hotter than 1998, the last time a similar strength El Nino was observed, by 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit (0.45 C). "Sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean continued to decrease during April 2016, reflecting a weakened El Nino," added the NOAA report, predicting the cooling trend, known as La Nina, could begin in the second half of 2016. World temperature variation compared with the 20th century average, April 2016 �Alain Bommenel, Sabrina Blanchard (AFP) This undated photo released on April 20, 2016 by XL Catlin Seaview Survey shows a diver checking the bleached coral at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef Advertisement

User:PhyllisPigdon87

2018-06-18T17:40:16Z

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