Cooking School


After our breakfast, we set out on our first full day in Hamoi.  KOTO (Know One Teach One) Cooking School was started by an Australian who wanted to help kids living on the streets find something more than a park bench and selling post cards.  His solution was a cooking school that helps kids 16-22 find a skilled job with the restaurants and hotels in Vietnam as well as many of the surrounding countries including Australia.  The two year program provides housing and all their basic needs. 

To pay for the school, part of the money comes from the KOTO Restaurant and Cooking School where tourists can some and learn to make native dishes which are then enjoyed afterwards in their dining room.  To start our class we broke into two groups to explore a nearby food market to see where they buy many of their ingredients.  Fruits, vegetables, rice, fresh meats such as pork, chicken, and beef are sold at stalls in the market along with a large selection of fresh (some still alive) fish and seafood.  The market teamed with locals buying and selling for the day’s meals. 







Next we returned to our classroom to begin preparing our lunch.  We started with wrapping spring rolls filled with carrots, pineapple, pork, lettuce, Thai basil, cilantro and shrimp.  Next we prepared a green papaya salad and making a delish dressing (3 parts fish sauce, 5 parts lime juice and 6 parts sugar that had been caramelized) and learned a beautiful banana leaf presentation.  The main course is a very comoon dish of pork two ways – sliced and grilled and little meatballs flattened to resemble very tiny hamburgers.  The vegetarians in the group prepared a delicious pumpkin in a coconut milk sauce.






After lunch we walked a short distance to the Temple of Literature. Built in 1070,  this served as one of the oldest universities dedicated to Confucius.  Flanked by ponds and groomed gardens, the grounds contain well preserved traditional architecture representing Vietnamese traditional temples.  As with most Asian temples, offerings to the gods decorate incense lined alters with statutes of deities worshiped by the people.  It’s a lovely sight to explore.









Next, we walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.which honors the President which lead the country to independence and reunification.  The Mausoleum is an imposing white structure that dominates the landscope of the complex.  We arrived just in time for the changing of the guard.  The museum is closed on Mondays so we wondered the well groomed grounds eventually arriving at a temple where a ceremony was taking place.  Large paper dolls were purchased to be thrown into an intense fireplace, representing getting ride of bad luck. 





We chose to walk back to our hotel, giving us a chance to absorb more of the flavor of the city.  With no real tourists crowding the sidewalks, we felt like we had the city all to ourselves.  We ended up eating and imbibing in the bar upon our return with our fellow photographers.  We covered a lot of ground today.


Tomorrow: Class and the Old Quarter 

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