Food & Cooking

Q: What kind of food do you like to eat? A: Broadly speaking, Vietnamese food, which isn't surprising given where I grew up. But I've become more interested in cooking in the last few years, which has made me more curious about food from other places — particularly Japanese and Italian food, which reward simplicity and good ingredients in a way I find appealing. Q: Do you prefer eating at home or eating out? A: Eating at home, most of the time, though not for the reason people usually give. It's not mainly about cost or health. It's more that I have more control over what I'm eating, and I find the act of cooking genuinely enjoyable rather than just a means to an end. That said, I eat out probably two or three times a week, mostly for social reasons. Q: Can you cook? Who taught you? A: Well enough, I think, though I'm more of a competent amateur than anything else. I taught myself mostly, through a combination of following recipes and making mistakes — the latter probably being the more educational of the two. My mother cooked very well but it never translated into formal lessons. Q: Has the food people eat in your country changed in recent years? A: Significantly. There are far more international options available now than there were fifteen years ago, and Vietnamese eating habits have shifted towards more varied, sometimes more Westernised meals. That said, the core of everyday eating — phở, bún, rice dishes — hasn't changed and I don't expect it to. Food culture is more conservative than people assume.