A culinary destiny
Born into a family of educators with a deep love for literature, Mrs. Hoang Thi Nhu Huy herself was also a teacher and writer. Having absorbed many humanistic values from her family, she skillfully infused them into everyday creations, turning ordinary dishes into works of art.
However, it wasn’t until the age of 44 - following a family crisis - that culinary artisan Hoang Thi Nhu Huy took a different turn in life and chose cooking as a means of livelihood. She recounted that in 1981, while teaching literature in Quang Nam, her mother-in-law residing in Hue had an accident. Her request for a job transfer was unfortunately denied, forcing her to quit her job to return home to take care of her mother-in-law. During that time of hardship, she applied for jobs everywhere but was rejected again and again.
At that time, she did all kinds of job - writing, cooking, raising livestock, and farming. During this period, she and her sister were sponsored by the Schzmith Foundation to open a homemaking class for women in Hue.
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In 1996, when Saigon Morin Hotel announced a recruitment for kitchen staff, she applied for the position. After a two-hour interview, she was selected and sponsored to attend Vietnam’s first industrial cooking course, organized by Saigontourist in Ho Chi Minh City. After a year of diligent study, she graduated as valedictorian.
Every day, she toiled by the stove - amid smoke, sweat, and the bitterness of life. Her hands, once only familiar with holding a pen, now had to grasp cooking chopsticks, knives, cutting boards, and pans in the hustle of the food service industry. More than once, she burst out into tears from feeling overwhelmed and disheartened.
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Astonishing accomplishments
Heaven helps those who persevere. One day, while she was busily preparing dishes for a wedding banquet at the hotel, the director of Saigon Morin Hotel unexpectedly came down to the kitchen and asked if she could speak French. He then invited her to come to his office at 2:00 p.m. for an interview to go to France. At the scheduled time, she arrived at the director’s office. After a series of interview questions, at the end of the meeting, the French representative turned to the hotel director and said: “Madam Huy has a wonderful father - he taught her French so well that, even after 26 years without using it, she stills remains a proficient speaker.” Following that interview, she was selected to go to France for professional culinary training.
She packed her bags and set off to Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France to “apprentice herself to a master.” There, yet another fortunate opportunity came her way. Just a week after beginning her studies, the principal invited her to the office and suggested that she represent the school in an international culinary competition organized by the French Culinary Academy. Feeling unworthy, she modestly declined, citing two reasons: first, she couldn’t afford the high competition fees; and second, she was unfamiliar with the modern kitchen equipment, thus fearing that she wouldn’t be able to operate it properly during the competition. The principal laughed and reassured her that the school would address both the issues.
She was then interviewed by a panel of 20 culinary PhDs from the French Culinary Academy, who assessed her knowledge of cooking and culinary culture. After the interview, she drew a random exam topic, entered the pantry to select ingredients accordingly, and submitted a written recipe to the panel. The exam format was both open and closed - meaning the main ingredient and cooking method had to strictly follow the assigned topic, but candidates were free to choose additional elements and be creative according to their capability. Amazingly, Mrs. Hoang Thi Nhu Huy outperformed nearly 670 contestants from all over the world to win an award at the 1998 International Chef Competition held at Le Touquet Paris Palace. She was honored with a medal and conferred the title of Honorary Member by the French Culinary Academy.
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After completing her course in France, she returned home and resumed her work in the hotel kitchen. Then, another turning point came that brought her back to her original profession as an educator. In 2000, she was chosen by a specialist from the LUX Project to become the Head Culinary Instructor at Hue Vocational School of Tourism - right in the kitchen of Saigon Morin Hotel.
True to the saying “good wine needs no bush”, Mrs. Nhu Huy’s fame soon extended beyond Vietnam’s borders. Several overseas organizations and tourism schools invited her to teach and exchange knowledge. Thence, she had more opportunities to travel and showcase Vietnamese cuisine around the world.
While abroad, she even designed poetic menus that left a lasting impression and made meals more enjoyable for diners. On one occasion, she received a phone call from a Vietnamese expatriate telling her that they had cried after reading one of her articles. The longing for their homeland had been stirred deeply through the seemingly simple dishes that embodied the spirit and soul of Hue. It is this love for cuisine that shaped her unique culinary style - one that both preserves tradition and constantly evolves with creativity, making each day’s offerings more diverse and enticing.
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Since 1996, Mrs. Nhu Huy has produced numerous instructional and cultural exchange video CDs for television stations, covering topics such as Culinary Culture in the Ullambana Festival, Culinary Traditions of the Mid-Autumn Festival, The Dining Style of Hue People, Distinctive Features of Hue Cuisine, and Tet Holiday Food Culture in Hue. She has also collaborated with many international organizations such as UNIDO, NAV, and JICA in programs aimed at helping disadvantaged women improve their livelihoods through culinary skills. These include projects like producing shrimp paste using hygienic methods, making bread and pastries for small-scale businesses, and providing nutritional guidance for HIV patients.
Silently spreading the spirit of Hue cuisine
For Mrs. Nhu Huy, glory has always gone hand in hand with hardship. In 2002, her husband suffered a stroke, forcing her to take on multiple roles - caring for him, earning a living, and continuing to pursue her culinary passion - all at the same time.
As a recognition of her perseverance and creativity in the face of adversity, Mrs. Huy has received numerous prestigious awards and honors, including: the International Culinary Medal and the Honorary Membership Certificate from the French Culinary Academy, the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Teacher, Talented Vietnamese Woman from the Vietnam Women’s Museum, and Resilient Vietnamese Woman by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (2007). She has also been honored as a “Living Human Treasure” by the Vietnam Folk Arts Association, and was awarded the titles Meritorious Artisan and later People’s Artisan by the President of Vietnam.
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At the 2011 Hue Festival, her culinary masterpiece “A Banquet of Hue: Rice served with Salt” - a research project she had cherished since 1999 - astonished visitors. With salt grains that she had aged and preserved for over 10 years using a secret family technique, she revived a nearly forgotten cultural gem of ancient Hue cuisine and introduced this one-of-a-kind culinary beauty to the world.
In various culinary documentaries on Vietnamese cuisine, artisan Hoang Thi Nhu Huy has left a lasting impression on audiences both in Vietnam and abroad. Through her elegant presentation and articulate, heartfelt narration, she has embodied the image of a Hue woman whose life has been totally devoted to honoring Vietnamese gastronomy.
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In early 2025, I had the chance to visit An Chi Vien Garden (Thuy Bang, Thuan Hoa District), where she now lives in peaceful retirement. She still preserves kitchenware - bowls, pots, pans - accumulated over the decades, enough to establish a living museum of applied culinary heritage for future generations. In her garden, filled with all kinds of plants and herbs, she warmly welcomes visitors, introducing them to the ingredients and spices essential to Hue dishes. With her magical blend of culinary elements passed down from ancestors, she helps guests discover dishes found nowhere else. Using her hands-on, teacherly approach, she guides visitors through the preparation of Hue specialties, making them both delighted and confident that they can recreate these dishes at home.
Now in her seventies, one would expect Mrs. Huy to enjoy a well-earned rest. Yet each night, she diligently works on editing her 1,000-page book “The Love of Cuisine” - a culinary encyclopedia of Hue’s unique gastronomic culture. This monumental work is a labor of love and a heartfelt effort to pass down the art of Hue cuisine to future generations.
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