2012 Lunar New year or Tet is approaching....
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| Banh chung and banh tet are a must in most of Vietnamese families during Tet Holiday. |
2012 Lunar New year or Tet is approaching. Glutinous rice cakes named banh chung and banh tet are a must in most of Vietnamese families during Tet Holiday. Many establishments have offered the traditional cake ordering service.
Tran Thi Trinh, Group 2, Vinh Diem Trung Village, Vinh Hiep Commune in a family with 20 years of making the cake said, "My family sells tet and chung cakes all year round. Some hundreds of cakes are sold every normal day and some 5,000 cakes/ day on the Tet holiday when we often have to employ additional 4-5 people."
"We have prepared all ingredients for making the cakes since the beginning of January, " said a woman named Cao Thi Than in Vinh Diem Village, Ngoc Hiep Ward with over 30 years of experience.
Nguyen Thi Kim Loan, Dien Khanh Town, told us, "I receive many orders every Tet. Sometimes, I have to refuse orders as I don't have enough time making so many cakes. This year, I have received orders for 2,000 cakes."
Nguyen Thi Bich Dao, 14 Le Lai, Nha Trang City, from a family with 50 years of offering the tet cake ordering service said, "The process of making the cakes is time-consuming. Banh chung and banh tet are Vietnamese traditional food considered an essential element of the family altar on the occasion of Tet."
The demand for the traditional cakes is always extremely high in the run-up to the lunar new year. The price of chung and tet cakes may increase by 10-12% ranging between VND35,000 and VND95,000/ cake.
The cakes demonstrate the importance of rice in the Vietnamese culture. Family members usually gather together and enjoy feasting on the cakes to celebrate the coming of spring.
N.T
