Passing down the flame from the mother's kitchen: Vietnamese Culture, Customs, Cuisine, and Stories

This book is a handwritten letter I wrote to Vietnam, the most peaceful and beautiful land, where I was born and raised.
I don’t know how grand or dazzling the world out there might be, but I know my homeland holds simple, lovely things that are enough to nourish the soul of anyone growing up here.
Through each dish from my mother’s kitchen, the wooden slit drum echoing in the village community house yard, and the lullabies I used to sing for my baby at noon nap, I hope to share with the world a full, honest, and close-up view of Vietnamese people – in the voice of a mother, a daughter, and a woman who doesn’t quietly accept limitations.
I wrote in English not because it is my mother tongue, but because it was passed on to me by travellers, kind souls who once stayed at my home, listened to my stories over humble meals, and gently taught me the words I now use to speak to the world.
This book is for them, and for my sons.
Because if I don’t write this down now, who will remember the unique flavour of braised fish, the Cleaning Grave Ritual before T?t, or how my mother cooks a pot of steam bath for me after childbirth?
Thank you for walking with me on this journey to a Vietnam that is alive and full of feeling, not just a beautiful country.