Who likes sweet jackfruit, with its rich, nutty flavor...

(Baonghean) - My hometown is in the midland region, with hills and mountains undulating like inverted bowls, and barren land, yet it is suitable for many types of specialty crops. Since ancient times, the local specialties have been famous throughout the region and have been immortalized in folk songs such as: "Thanh Chuong pickled bamboo shoots, Nam Dan soy sauce," "Thanh Chuong has delicious fish from the Giang River / Delicious sweet potatoes from La Mac, delicious bamboo shoots from Cho Chua," "Anyone who knows sweet jackfruit and fragrant mango / Come to Cat Ngan with me."

Black olives and stuffed meat dishes.

I recently returned to my hometown, and seeing the lush green olive trees casting their shade, laden with fruit, I suddenly felt a deep longing for the rich, fragrant taste of braised olives with dipping sauce, a dish often enjoyed on rainy days…

I don't know when the black olive tree first appeared on the hills of my hometown, but I know that stewed and salted black olives have become very familiar dishes in the meals of many families. Many areas in Thanh Chuong still commonly call the black olive by another folk name, "mui" fruit. Black olives are abundant in my hometown, especially in the right bank of the Lam River, such as Cat Ngan, Thanh Nho, and Thanh Hoa. The black olive tree is a woody plant, with some trees reaching 30-40 meters in height, casting a green shade over a corner of the garden. But not all black olive trees produce delicious fruit. Some trees produce astringent fruit with thin skin; others produce rough-skinned fruit… September and October are the season for ripe black olives. The delicious ones are dark purple, plump, thick-fleshed, and covered with a layer of white powder.

There are many ways to prepare dishes from canarium fruit, such as stewing fresh, drying, or pickling. No matter how it's prepared, canarium fruit is delicious due to its distinctive flavor and indescribable nutty aroma. The most delicious, easy-to-make, and least likely to tiresome dish is stewed canarium fruit. After buying the canarium fruit, soak it in water to remove the sap. Bring a pot of water to a moderate temperature, around 70-80 degrees Celsius, then add the canarium fruit. Remove from the heat and wait for about 20 minutes; if it's soft to the touch, it's cooked. Drain, and the stewed canarium fruit is ready. It's that simple, but if someone doesn't know and puts the canarium fruit into boiling water, the whole batch will be ruined, as the fruit will become tough and inedible.

Many places still eat braised canarium fruit with sesame salt, but in my hometown, we prefer dipping it in cheo. Cheo is a dipping sauce made from crushed roasted peanuts, garlic, chili peppers, a little molasses, and soy sauce, seasoned to achieve the right balance of aroma, spiciness, saltiness, and sweetness. On a rainy day, coming home from work and having braised canarium fruit with cheo is enough to devour an entire pot of rice and still not satisfy the craving.

When we were children, after eating the canarium fruit, my sisters and I would often cut the seeds in half with a knife, scoop out the pulp, and then stick the hard seed halves into the ground. My sister would even draw on them to form words like "Memories," "Remember Forever,"... and shapes of flowers, stars, bees, and butterflies, covering the entire porch.

Many times, when we had too much pickled olives to eat, my sister would separate the pits, take the pulp, stir-fry it with pork fat and shallots, and sprinkle some chili powder on top. It was just as delicious with rice.

During the season when the canarium fruit ripens and is inexpensive, people in my hometown buy it to pickle or stew, then separate the pulp and dry it for later consumption. As life becomes more prosperous, people can prepare many delicious and nutritious dishes such as pork belly stewed with canarium fruit, fish stewed with canarium fruit, etc., but the simple and easy-to-make canarium fruit stew with dipping sauce remains very popular because it retains the original flavor of the black canarium fruit.

There's still almost a month until the persimmon season, but the scent of persimmons already seems to fill the hearts of those far from home…

Phan Thi Ha Long