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Banh Tet Trung Thu (Mooncake)
Tet Trung Thu would
be incomplete without the traditional banh tet trung
thu, or literally, Mid-Autumn Festival cakes, which
are also known simply as mooncakes. Banh tet trung
thu come in a variety of shapes from carps, which
represents the soul of the moon, to round and white
cakes, or square and golden brown cakes. A traditional
banh tet trung thu is made of a sweet bean-paste
filling with golden brown flaky skin, and also includes
a small yolk which represents the moon. The top of the
mooncake is embossed with the insignia of the baker
molded into the golden brown skin. In addition to sweet
bean-paste fillings, you can now find mooncakes with
mixed nuts, peanuts, sugar, lotus seed, duck-egg yolks,
raisins, watermelon seeds, etc.
  
Like the stories of
Tet Trung Thu, the symbolism of banh tet trung thu
are numerous. Some believe that the brown banh tet
trung thu represent the yang elements, or the sun,
and the white ones are the moon; in the balance of the
female and male elements of the universe, the fall
festival represents the ascendancy of the female powers
over the male, the prominence of the moon over the sun's
influence.
Other
Foods
Other cakes such as the banh deo (glutinous-rice
dumplings,) lotus seed paste cake, and mung bean cakes
in the shape of the moon and fish are also served during
Trung Thu. Other round fruits are also served, such as
grapefruit, pomegranates, apples, grapes, and longans.
  
Sources
“A Multicultural Thanksgiving: Vietnamese Mid-Autumn
Festival” [On-line]. Available:
http://familyculture.com/holidays/tettrungthu.htm
“August Moon Festival” [On-line].
Available:
http://familyculture.com/holidays/mooncake.htm
“Customs and Culture of Vietnam”
[On-line]. Available:
http://www.farmstayusa.com/vietnam2/vietnamch10.htm
“Dac san Vietvodao. Tap chi cua
Trai Tim Tu Ai” [On-line]. Available:
http://www.vovinam-via.org/sometet19.htm
“Kate’s
Global Kitchen” [On-line]. Available: http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/1099/kgk101699.html
“Mid-Autumn Children's Festival”
[On-line]. Available:
http://www.thingsasian.com/goto_article/article.641.html
“Sixth Annual Mid-Autumn Festival :
About the Festival” [On-line]. Available:
http://www.vietgate.net:8081/midautumn/about/
“Tet Trung Thu and Mooncake Madness
by L Song” [On-line]. Available: http://www.imdiversity.com/villages/asian/history_heritage/song_tet_mooncakes.asp |
