By Michael Bonté.
The third edition of Vietnam little Corner cultural and culinary event took place on 5 November at the MeetingDistrict in Nieuwegein. The Vietnamese community and their Dutch family and friends came from all over the Netherlands to this spirited function.
As a special guest the Vietnamese Ambassy in the Netherlands came with a small delegation headed by H.E Ms Ngô Thi Hòa, Ambassador of Vietnam.
With more than five hundred people attending the organisers Lan Anh Hoàng and Theo Vrijenhoek certainly were happy with their most succesful event yet. As Theo said:” The event is very popular. We had to book a bigger capacity room this year. For us this is the maximum of participants we want to have at this stage”.
With the venue buzzing and the participants joining each other at nicely decorated round tables. The program started with a traditional Vietnamese dance meanwhile the appealing appetisers of a selection of spring rolls and fishcake with young rice were served by volunteers who did an excellent job.
From here on the guests were on their own as the main dishes and desserts were presented buffet style. Several noodle soups and salads as starters. From there on a large selection of main courses which included BBQ pork and beef with rice vermicelli. At one of the stands steamed rice rolls were freshly prepared which were very popular with the crowd.
The entertainment was now provided by an array of vocalists whom sang in Vietnamese and English. The kids certainly loved it as they were dancing along in front of the podium.
As the conversation flowed and all the main course dishes were cleared. The dessert station was looking very inviting. Amongst them were a rice and mung beans cake wrapped in pandan leaves. This sweet was traditionally given by a suitor. The delicious coffee coconut jelly was disappearing quickly as it was much appreciated.
As all good things come in three. Volunteers who had attended all events were honoured with a memento. The husband and wife organisers were honoured and applauded by all.
They explained that the net profits of all the events will go to a charity ‘Stichting Hart voor Vietnam”. A foundation which finances an education for children from less fortunate families in Vietnam.
All in all a very succesful celebration of Vietnamese cuisine which will go from strength to strength.
