Hue food

Hue, the old Vietnamese capital, a city like a shy girl hiding her face behind the gentle flow of the Huong river, with shady streets winding between castles, temples and old glory. I only had half a day here on my last visit to Vietnam, a few hours of driving alongside the river, walking amongst the trees and old buildings that form the old town with its Forbidden City, an hour to eat like a Hueian, with my eyes, my ears and my heart. Portions here are small. Tiny dishes with spoonfuls of food, which are meant as much for your palate as they are for your stomach. Hue people eat slow, too busy contemplating on past and present, too engulfed in music and conversation to devour what is being put down before them. Each dish requires a different dipping sauce even if it is only a bite of steamed rice flour topped with shredded shrimp. I fell in love with Hue by the second course of lunch. A plate with four different types of hearty pastry,very simple in ingredients yet so sophisticated in the way you eat. Each with such distinct flavor my palate finally wakes up and asks for more. I fell in love with Hue leaving the city behind to continue on my journey, a longing in my mind for something I have discovered way too late. But I will be back. There are too many things we have not yet shared with each other.