On Cabbages and Kings, in Hue

Royalty welcomed us into the imperial city of Hue, its former capital located in the center of Viet Nam.

We arrived in the early evening by bus to the home of a princess of the Nguyen dynasty. Our host and guide for the evening was a slim, straight-backed man dressed in a traditional white outfit. He introduced himself to us as the husband to the great-granddaughter of the Emperor Bao Dai.










He showed us the princess' home, pointing out various artifacts dating back hundreds of years just sitting on shelves. He even had a cup of toothpicks that were ready to be used by the royal family.

To the left is one of the precious items left to his family from one of the empresses. The table is carved entirely from ironwood, a special and very study wood in Viet Nam, and the engraved filigree is made of silver, copper, and pearl.










In the backyard was a squarish pool crowded with lotus flowers and a pointed wooden boat. The lotus, either pink or white, is very special to Viet Nam, and it is virtually everywhere there is water. The pool was framed by copious stalks of bamboo, hedging the yard's perimeter.

"Bamboo," the man explained to us, "represents the gentleman, for when it is pushed it does not bend or break. It stands straight and tall."

He also explained the symbolic feng shui design of the house and the dragon and tiger statuettes that were for protection. "I hope they are protecting us now," he said with a beatific smile.

After his amazing tour we learned he had been a history professor until the Vietnamese reunification in 1975. When the "reunification" occurred, which sounds like an equalized combination instead of the de facto northern domination, he was asked to step down because he still taught the version of history he had experienced. He's a tough man, though, and he raised a beautiful family and started giving tours of the privatized museum that was the princess' home.

He called his daughters to begin serving us on the two elegant roundtables in front of the garden and lotus pond. There were a total of EIGHT courses, all homemade traditional dishes of Hue. He informed us that the women in Hue are known for their fantastic culinary skills. The courses were as follows:

1-A Hue salad made of at least 8 kinds of vegetables including cabbage, carrots, other veggies and also shrimp, all sliced into delicate strings and were refreshingly crunchy (rau va tom)

2-a shaved pineapple impaled with plump, lightly fried shrimp on toothpicks (thom va tom chien)

3-seasoned beef wrapped in banana leaves (bo va la trai chuoi)

4-five tiny saucers filled with gooey rice paste and topped with shrimp paste (banh mi va tom)

5-chopped pork and crunchy fried bread
(banh mi va thit heo)

6-triangles of juicy watermelon (dua hau)

7-strong ginger tea in decorative thimbles (tra nong)

8-sweet chom chom fruit, sliced in half (chom chom)


Yes. So we were STUFFED.

As a parting gift, he was kind enough to give Kiley and I each a Vietnamese magnolia. They smelled beautiful and were delicate, but they also fell apart very delicately a few minutes later. Afterwards Annalee and I strolled along the riverwalk, avoiding vendors and seeing Hue at night. We also found a little cafe honoring one of Communism's famed heroes.

It was lovely.