The Vietnamese baguette is a combination of French and Vietnamese culinary traditions. It is a hoagie-shaped bread made with a mix of rice and wheat flour. Traditional Vietnamese baguettes are shorter and crunchier than French baguettes and are commonly sold by street vendors. The bread’s creation was influenced by French colonialism in Vietnam.
The combination of the culinary traditions of France and Vietnam has led to the creation of the Vietnamese baguette. This crusty bread combines rice flour and wheat flour to make hoagie-shaped bread or submarine roll. For a traditional Vietnamese baguette, bakers mix water, yeast, salt, sugar, wheat flour and rice flour. The Vietnamese version is a lighter and crunchier baguette than the French version, which uses only wheat flour.
A baguette is a long, narrow loaf that resembles a rolling pin with rounded ends. The French version traditionally can be up to 3 feet (about 1 meter) long. Baked bread typically has a diameter of about 5 cm.
Traditional Vietnamese baguettes are shorter than classic French baguettes, often only 1 foot (30 centimeters) long. The crust often has slits made for steam to escape as the bread bakes. Food historians believe the shorter length made the Vietnamese baguette more practical, particularly for busy workers. The smaller size makes it easier to manage bread when eating and working at the same time.
In Vietnam, bakeries and pastry shops mainly sell classic French pastries such as croissants and traditional baguettes. Street vendors are the main local baguette sellers. Using small charcoal heaters, they keep dozens of baguettes at serving temperature. In Vietnam’s major urban centers, one can easily find vendors selling hot baguettes and specialty sandwiches that use baguettes as a base, especially during lunchtime.
Since the creation of the Vietnamese baguette, bahn mi has been the local name for both bread and rolls. Sandwich creations based on a Vietnamese baguette use ingredients common in Asian cuisine. In Vietnam, sandwiches are found that include chopped carrots, pickled vegetables, salad, and mayonnaise. These staple ingredients accompany a variety of meats ranging from foie gras and shrimp to chicken or pork.
Bread was not a central part of the Vietnamese diet before the French arrived in the country in the 19th century. Wheat is not a common crop for this region of Asia. Contact with the French led to the development of a hybrid cuisine in Vietnam that survived long after colonial relations ended. The French not only introduced wheat flour to Vietnam but provided the necessary expertise for the Vietnamese to develop the rice flour found in local baguettes.
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