Lau cua
(by Patrick)
Food in Viet Nam plays a strong social role. Food is shared. People serve each other and choose morsels to show relationships. Food is eaten in small bits, taken from a main dish to a small individual dish and finally to one’s rice bowl. There is a lot of talking and laughing. Meals are leisurely and can take quite a while.
When Terry and I put the menu together for the Fourth of July meal we chose a dish called "Lau cua" because it brings fire to the table and that is a bit like a Fourth of July cookout. Lau cua is particularly social in that it is a shared pot.