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| Cover of the book “Am thuc dao thi” (Gastronomy in poetic verses) |
Following the tradition of the ancients, in June 2025, a descendant of a prestigious scholarly family from Hue introduced her seventh cookbook, titled Am thuc dao thi (Gastronomy in poetic verses). What makes this book unique is that it is entirely written in luc bat verse (six-word line – eight-word line verse) - a traditional Vietnamese poetic form, deeply imbued with the Vietnamese soul, rhythmic and easy to remember. The author is a poet and Vietnamese culinary artisan Ho Dac Thieu Anh, a native of Chuon Village (An Truyen Village, formerly Phu An Commune, Phu Vang District, now My Thuong Ward, Hue City).
The book Am thuc dao thi spans over 120 pages and is published by The Gioi Publishing House. The illustrations of dishes are visually captivating watercolor paintings. The transparent layers of color not only depict the hues of the food but also convey the love and care of the chef. This choice of artistic illustration contributes significantly to the book’s success.
The book has two parts. Part One covers how to choose ingredients and cook 17 dishes, both non-vegetarian and vegetarian, as well as tips for handling “kitchen mishaps” like burnt rice, undercooked rice, overly salty or bland food. Part Two introduces the life and work of poet and culinary artisan Ho Dac Thieu Anh through articles and interviews published in major newspapers across the country.
Each of the 17 dishes in Am thuc dao thi is a luc bat poem ranging from 22 to over 50 lines. The variation in length stems from the fact that each poem conveys how to prepare a general category of dish common to Vietnamese meals, like rice, soup, boiled, braised, stir-fried, pickled, or fermented dishes. Altogether, the 17 poems provide cooking instructions for about 60 different dishes.
Even those unfamiliar with cooking can read and grasp the general techniques, then adjust them using different ingredients according to their preferences. For soups, the book offers instructions for all types: vegetable, fish, meat, bitter melon, tofu, sour soups, and vegetarian broths. For savory fermented dishes (mam), the book includes recipes from all three regions of Vietnam: fresh fish, shrimp, field crab, shrimp paste, fermented firecracker eggplant, “mam ro, mam tep, savory mam nem”, Chau Doc-style mantis shrimp paste, green papaya snakehead fish paste, and Hanoi-style shrimp paste. Perhaps most ingeniously, the book includes a rich variety of pickled and preserved foods, from dry salts like sesame salt and peanut salt, to fermented items such as salted shrimp, pickled firecracker eggplants, melon, cucumbers, cabbages, taro stems, and more.
Thus, Gastronomy in Verse is not only a collection of poems but also serves as a comprehensive guide to cooking everyday Vietnamese meals across all regions. It features poetic lines that distill practical culinary wisdom, reminiscent of proverbs, filled with memorable “keywords” like:
“Bí bầu nấu với tôm sông” (Cook gourd and squash with river shrimp),
“Canh chua ưa ngổ, canh rau ưa hành” (Sour soup needs rice paddy herb, veggie soup loves scallions),
“Mít nêm sân, lốt, chay nêm cần, ngò” (Jackfruit calls for betel leaves; vegetarian soup needs celery and cilantro)
“Bò teo heo nở nên đừng nấu chung” (Beef shrinks, pork expands - don’t cook them together)
In the book’s introduction, Ho Dac Thieu Anh shares that to her, “Cooking is like speaking words of love.” Out of love for people, for cooking, and for the raw ingredients of the natural world, she shares her entire body of culinary knowledge learned from her family and her own life experiences, with the hope that everyone can prepare a delicious traditional meal, and keep the warm flame of family alive through flavorful home-cooked dishes.
Within every Vietnamese person lies a part of the soul nurtured by lullabies, proverbs, and folk songs, by the words of grandmothers and mothers, and the melodies of folk music. Open the book Am thuc dao thi by the poet and culinary artisan Ho Dac Thieu Anh, and let yourself be refreshed once more in the clear spring of the Vietnamese language, in the smooth rhythm of luc bat verse, while admiring vivid watercolor images of food, as if catching a glimpse of grandmother or mother bent over the stove, pondering what to cook today for their beloved family:
“River shrimp, striped or white
You shopped with care for this delicious dish.”