www.la-residence-hue.com Prestige Thailand has a special feature on Hue food. Most of the information and food images s in the article were gleaned from La Residence Hue.

1. DONATEL
VERSACE
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2. ietn mi al· Id ord mith · nd Lher are f , loc·
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F
TIIE NGUYE LORDS. the feudaJ
dynasty that ruled from Hue and
dominated much of southern
Vietnam from the 16th to 19th
centuries.chose their capital wisely.
On the banks of the effortlessly
evocative Suong Huong (Perfume
River) they constructed a Citadel
and a lavish oriental wonderland of
tombs. temples and palaces. which
stand testament to the dynasty's
lofty sense of aesthetics and its
equally towering arrogance and
disconnection with its humble
subjects.
Yet these often-haughty monarchs
didn'tjustleave(admittedlyattractive)
architectural tokens of their reign
They also helped bequeath upon Hue
an indigenous cuisine that is envied
around the country.
~From the middle of the 1600s
until 1945. nine lords and 13
emperors ruled from Hue:· says
Phan Trong Minh. general manager
at La Residence, the city's most
iJJustrious hotel. ~These rulers were
th n F th n tion
o ·th r
.
t 10
finicky eaters. They wouldn't settle for the same
humble dish day af er day. And so the cooks of
Hue had o get creative. Really creative. It's said
that the emperors wanted 50 different dishes
served at a single sitting.
"The legends also tell stories of incentives
the emperors provided for creativity. They
would often let hjs concubines compete for their
favour with the preparation of dessert. Whoever
produced the most delicious dessert could have
the emperor for he night!"
Times have changed a lot in Hue since then.
The emperors are long gone and the focus of
power and commercehas shifted north and south
to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, respectively.The
legacy of royalty. however, is easily detected in
the city's discerning dining habits.
In Hue. like elsewhere in Vietnam. the locals
like to get the day in gear sharpish. Indeed. the
hour errs towards the ungodly side as I make my
way over the Song Huong in search of an early
breakfast Despite the time. the city is already a
hive of activity.
A rowdy succession of motorbikes emerge
from the dawn mist that hangs like a heavy grey
curtain over the river. The streets bordering
the city's famous citadel. meanwhile. overflow
.
ion inLh ountr tl at
th h
.
r 1
no
with vendors tending steaming
cauldrons of bun bo Hue Ca hearty
beef noodle soup hat is one of the
city's defining dishes) and wizened
old ladies practicing their tai chi
moves.
In a large plaza next to the citadel
a group of young boys. kitted out in
Brazil soccer shirts. are kicking a
football around. The bright yellow
shirts may appear incongruous
given the grimy state of the weather.
But the scene is a fitting metaphor
for the city's multi-faceted culinary
scene.
Despite recent travails of its
national side, Brazil is still a byword
for an effortless. flair-filled version
of the "beautiful game". Similarly.
Hue is widely regarded as the
apogee of Vietnam's food culture:
a place where prime produce. a
fastidious royal heritage and some
of the best dishes in the country
combine to create something truly
world-beating.
Food is he only reason I'm up

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4. 144 PRESTIGE MARCH 2017

5. so early and not still snoozing in
my comfortable bed back at the
art deco La Residence Hue Hotel
& Spa Oa-residence-hue.com),
Hue's most prestigious address.
I'm acting on a hot tip from Andrea
Nguyen Cvietworldkitchen.com).
author of numerous books on
Vietnamese cuisine.
Upon quizzing her on her
preferred breakfast options in Hue.
she points me in the direction of
her favourite spot for bun bo Cbeef
and pork with chilli, lemongrass
and thick. round rice noodles).
The vendor packs up by 9am and
is often sold out earlier than that.
Therefore. it is with some relief that
I find myself tucking into a dish that
many view as defining its home city.
~Pho is nuanced and delicate.
a reflection of its origins in and
around Hanoi." says Nguyen. "Bun
bo Hue is gutsy and earthy like
the strong-willed people of its
namesake city. A breakfast of bun
bo Hue is a brow wiper. It awakens
your senses and fortifies you like no
other Vietnamese noodle soup."
It's a potent start to the day. but
its sense of power is somehow in
keeping with the former imperial
capi ars regal lineage.
It wasn't all about extravagant
banquets and concubine cook-offs
during the imperial era. As well as
being the royal centre of Vietnam.
Hue was also the country's spiritual
nexus. Its status as a hub for
Buddhism led to the expansion
of vegetarian cuisine. Hue chefs
are known for their skill with
vegetarian dishes to this day, often
incorporating ingredients such as
tofu and soy and mung beans to
replicate meat-based dishes.
"When I think about Hue cuisine.
I think of two things - royal cuisine
and more complex vegetarian
dishes... says Tracey Lister. author
of the book V1etnamese Street
Food. "Hue continues to be a
Buddhist centre and some of the
best vegetarian food in Vietnam is still found
there.'"
One emperor in particuJar is given much of
the credit for Hue's emergence as a culinary
powerhouse. Tu Due certainly had his flaws - he
was notoriously narcissistic and an unashamed
womaniser Che had 104 wives and many more
concubines). He was. nevertheless. a man of
exquisite taste and a difficult guy to please. He
apparently demanded a different meal every
day for a year: a tough task for even the most
innovative kitchen team.
His legacy. though. is writ large on Hue's
contemporary culinary scene. Dining highlights
in the city range from Imperial cuisine - a
succession of dainty dishes served up at lavish
multi-course banquets - to creations that leaked
out of the gilded royal kitchens to achieve mass
popularity with locals.
There's virtually nothing left of the once-
magnificent Forbidden Purple City, a citadel
within a citadel where pampered royals and their
courtiers and concubines luxuriated away from
the peasants. Imperial cuisine, however. is kept
alive in plush hotels and upscale restaurants
where the exactitude of the Nguyen era is
recreated for contemporary guests.
A La Residence the main dining room akes
its visual cues from the peak years of Imperial
pomp. It is decked out with red and gold fabrics
adorned with calligraphy. Guests are seated in
ornate high-backed chairs inscribed with dragon
etchings. The food is equally ostentatious. Fruit
and vegetables are painstakingly carved to
resemble birds such as swans and peacocks and
surrounded with delicate morsels such a deep-
fried prawns with young rice and beef in la lot
(wild betel) leaves.
It is all suitably sumptuous. and is a fitting
calling card for a property that remains one
of Vietnam's fines Hue's inherent elegance
is showcased at La Residence, which offers a
fusion of Francophone colonial chic and Asian
exoticism. Located on the southern bank of
the Perfume River. this former residence of the
French governor is one of the fines examples of
art deco archi ecture in the tropics. Inside it is
equally resplendent. Two addjtional wings were
added to the original mansion in 2005. and the
renovation has imbued additional grandeur to
the hotel's already heady Indochinese ambience.
Although the dining options at La Residence
are sublime. I'm equally happy to take to the
stree s o get o the heart of Hue's
tremendous food culture. After
filling up at breakfast. i takes me a
while to work up an appetite. After
climbing the vertiginous steps at the
Thien Mu Pagoda near the Perfume
River. I am ready to eat again.
I do so with gusto at Bun
Thit Nuong Huyen Anh. which
specialises (the clue is almost
always in the name in Vietnam) in
bun thit nuong (cold rice vermiceUi
noodles topped with grilled pork.
fresh herbs and lettuce).
Further encouragement to dine
arrives courtesy of a food tour
organised by La Residence. I am
whizzed between local restaurants
to sample iconic local specialties
such as banh khoai (pan fried crepe
stuffed wi h shrimp and pork belly),
banh beo (steamed rice cakes.
about the size of a silver dollar
topped with dried shrimp. pork
crackling. shallots and herbs and
served with a slightly sweetened
fish sauce) and corn hen (rice with
fresh herbs and baby mussels).
As I sit in one venue carefully
assembling a rice paper roll
consisting of herbs. fruit and salad
leaves and nem Jui (charcoal grilled
pork and beef formed around
lemongrass stalks), I ask my guide
Lan about her future plans. Only 21
with perfect English and a wicked
sense of humour. she seems like an
obvious candidate for a move to the
brighter lights of Hanoi or Ho Chi
Minh City. She, however. has other
ideas.
'TU stay here forever." she laughs
without missing a beat. "I couldn't
live without the food. You can get
Hue cuisine elsewhere in Vietnam.
but it never tastes quite he same as
it does here.~
Lan·s opinion is commonly
voiced in Hue. I is a sen iment. I
suspect that would have met with
the approval of the gastronomes
that once ran Lhe show from this
part of Vietnam.Iii
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