Nem (Spring roll) is typical Vietnamese food

The Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association plans to gather Vietnamese gastronomy organizations and individuals to preserve and develop Vietnamese gastronomy and promote it to the wider world.

Vietnamese food is natural, nutritious, healthy and not very fat. Vietnam is an agricultural country and one of the world’s leading producers of shrimp, crab, fish, pepper, and coffee. With varied terrain and weather: mountain, coast, and plain areas and temperate and tropical weather, each region in Vietnam has its typical ingredients and dishes. Vietnamese people pay great attention to eating. They say it embraces their tradition, and culture. Cuisine expert Nguyen Huynh Dat said: “The Association is being established to restore, preserve and promote the value of Vietnamese cuisine.”

The Association plans to introduce Vietnamese gastronomy widely around the world. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Ky, Head of the Lobby Committee for the Vietnam Cuisine Culture Association and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viettravel Tourism Company says cuisine and tourism are closely linked. Promoting cuisine will have a strong impact on the tourism sector. Food and services make up 70% of the tourism sector’s revenue. Mr. Ky said: “Promoting cuisine culture will help promote cultural and tourism development. We need to develop a plan to promote Vietnamese food overseas”.

There are 300,000 restaurants nationwide and approximately 20,000 Vietnamese restaurants overseas. 6 groups of Vietnamese people from Russia, Germany, France, Singapore, the US and South Korea have registered to become Association members.

The Association plans to hold a Vietnamese Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival in December and a Royal Cuisine Exhibition in Hue next January, build up Vietnamese gastronomy standards, and organize training courses for chefs and bartenders.