Vietnamese families, immigrants, and refugees have been entering Canada in significant numbers since the late 1960s.
As they have adapted to the multicultural life of living in Canada since arriving here, they have brought unique customs and foods to this new country. In a truly global world, these unique customs and foods have never been so important to identifying culture, preservation, and ethnic background.
Like what’s happened in the United States with the ‘melting pot’ phenomenon, as Vietnamese families came to Canada over the years, customs melded. This produced a sort of Vietnamese-Canadian culture of togetherness.
There’s a lot of views on how this happened. It’s not anything specific to Vietnamese families either. The same thing has occurred with most of the immigrants who have come to Canada, to become Canadians. Neither good nor bad, here’s a closer look at what’s happened to Vietnamese customs and culture as they’ve adapted or welcomed themselves into the modern Canadian identity.
Is Vietnamese culture being left behind?
Adjusting to life in Canada for Vietnamese families from the 1970s until today is not easy. Though Canada’s more multicultural today than it’s ever been, for immigrant families, there is still a lot which has to be left behind. To come to Canada and become Canadian, a part of one’s background needs to be left behind but this is not to say one’s culture, customs, beliefs, food, or personal values need to disappear. Visit a city like Toronto and see beautiful Vietnamese and Asian cultures shared in restaurants and cultural events all over the GTA. Is Vietnamese culture being left behind – no, not in Canada.
Read more: Are Vietnamese-Canadians Leaving their Cultural Food Behind – A Changing Food Culture
Asian cuisine has come a long way in Canada since the post-war era in the 1950s. These days, cities across the country have dozens of restaurants serving Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, and more. Perceptions of these Asian cuisines have changed albeit not equally across each.
While Vietnamese cuisine is currently thought to be the healthiest Asian cuisine, generally using less oil, more vegetables, and more balance in mind, its current popularity took a long time to develop. Here’s a quick rundown of how each Asian cuisine’s perception changed and the impact this may have had on the rise of Vietnamese food in Canadian cities like Toronto.
Chinese cuisine
For years, Chinese cuisine was the most favourite Asian cuisine by North Americans. Chinese restaurants were popular, the purchase price was cheap, and perception was that Chinese cuisine was on par with a lot of American dishes such as hamburgers, fries, and the like.
Unfortunately for fans of Chinese, it’s actually decreased in popularity in the past two decades. This isn’t to say that less Chinese restaurants exist but perhaps due to the growing momentum behind Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto and other major cities, there has been less focus on Chinese options.
What Chinese restaurants have done, as neither positive nor negative, is that they’re almost perceived as mainstream American foods now. This is how common Chinese food is. There isn’t any mystery or anything left to discover. Also, Chinese food has had such an impact that when someone opens a Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or Thai restaurant, they are likely to include numerous Americanized Chinese-influenced dishes on the menu.
Vietnam has been called a ‘coffee lover’s paradise’ among other complementary nicknames. The unique taste of Vietnam coffee differs so much from Brazil coffee or coffees from elsewhere in the world.
How it used to be in Vietnam, at one time, was under France’s control. It was a French-ruled country. The coffee of Vietnam and the culture of Vietnamese coffee comes from French influence. From the plantations to the cafes in Vietnam are all built in large part from French philosophies and French culture first instilled in the nation hundreds of years ago.
The charm, loving taste of Vietnamese coffee beans
Vietnamese coffee comes in many forms, the most popular is one created from the Robusta coffee bean. The bitter taste of the coffee here is solely attributed to Robusta beans which are more easily cultivated in this region than Arabica. The weather conditions and soil are ideal for Robusta, the reason why approximately 97% of the coffee plantations in Vietnam cultivate Robusta beans.
The rise of Vietnamese coffee from the 1990s to today
An economic liberalization hit the Vietnamese region in the 1990s. At this time, foreign investors poured into the country much like how a fresh brew of Vietnamese coffee pours into a heated cup. In this period, a lot of international coffee companies swarmed into Vietnam trying to cultivate relationships with plantations and crafting part of the market for themselves. It wasn’t long before Vietnam rose to being the world’s second biggest coffee producing country, only behind Brazil.
Read more: Coffee Culture in Vietnam and How to Brew Vietnamese-Style Coffee
New Year rice cakes, also known as ‘banh tet’, are a popular icon of Vietnamese culinary traditions. They are an expression of Vietnam’s national identity, representing culture and nationalism to a degree.
Read more: What Are Vietnamese New Year Rice Cakes – An Icon of Cultural Expression and Identity
Broken rice was once called a ‘poor man’s rice’. It was looked down upon in a big way for years. These days, you will find broken rice in almost every dish from those served in school to kids to upper-class meals in a Vietnamese restaurant.
Vietnam is blessed to have its own unique collection of fresh herbs that are rare or unknown among Canadians and the Western world. In Vietnam, these herbs are grown routinely for a variety of purposes – some medicinal, some for our cuisine, and otherwise. This is a short introduction to some Vietnamese herbs used in cooking and medicine that Canadians and Torontonians may not be aware of.
Read more: Cultivate these Fresh Vietnamese Herbs used in Vietnamese Restaurants Across Canada
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