How to Eat like the Vietnamese

Coriander, fresh ginger, pineapple. Vietnamese greengrocers have taught Czechs to eat those. Vietnamese cuisine, however, has more to offer. In Berlin, Vietnamese restaurants sit on almost every corner. Czech towns still wait for them.

When one looks through a glass of greenish soda, one sees Hanoi. Sapa market – Prague's Hanoi – and the drink represent Vietnam. Nuoc mia, sugar-cane juice with ice and limes, has become one of those interesting exotic delicacies gourmets crave. Most, however, don't know this delicacy, because you can only find it in Sapa's buffets and other Vietnamese markets. Vietnamese cuisine here remains hidden behind ghetto walls. However, in cities all over, where the Vietnamese community may not have as many members, "Vietnamese restaurant" signs spreading as it becomes fashionable now to eat at places called Hanoi or Saigon.

Not a single Czech sits in Sapa's garden today, only two Vietnamese. Do Thi Hong Hanh – Czechs have a hard time with her Vietnamese name, so they call her

Hanka

– speaks Czech almost as well as Vietnamese. She grew up in Příbram, her parents have a houseware store, and she is currently a student of Czech studies at the Faculty of Arts. The Vietnamese women have brought their Mongolian friend here:

"We wanted to show her what Vietnamese eat."

They have therefore gone to…