The Vietnamese New Year or Tet is not just about family reunion but also a fantastic time to explore the pure traditions of Vietnam via its festive foods and ways of decoration. Albeit there are many things which can be considered iconic for Tet, the five-fruit tray is a Tet food and a decoration item at the same time.
The five-fruit tray is a kind of food offering being put on display on the altar to show gratitude to their ancestors as well as to show aspiration for prosperity. In addition to banh chung, boiled chicken, Vietnamese sausage and pickled onions, the five-fruit tray is becoming an indispensable part of Tet holiday in Vietnam.
The selection of these five fruits depends on regional difference, even family’s preferences. In the North, people often select pear, pomegranate, peach, apple, pomelo, banana, orange, tangerine and the unique Buddha’s hand, a bizarre yellow fruit which resembles the hand of Buddha. In the southern part of Vietnam, because of the hotter climate, some of the aforementioned fruits are not available. Thus, popular choices are tropical fruits such as watermelon, papaya, mango, pineapple, coconut, grapes, and dragon fruit.
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| The Buddha's hand fruit |
In general, the Vietnamese people do not have a rigid rule on which fruits have to be put on display. As long as the five-fruit tray is colorful and well-decorated, it is widely accepted and the house owner will even get praise from their friends and relatives during their Tet visit. Because of this, people often do not choose fruits with the same color. For example, if you have already bought pomelo which is green outside, it is not recommended to buy green apples. Instead, you can buy red apple so that your five-fruit tray does not look so boring. Sometimes, the choice can change from year to year. For example, this year you can buy mango to represent yellow or green color, but next year you can buy papaya instead.
The Northerners does not have a rigid rule on which fruits have to be put on display. As long as the five-fruit tray is colorful and well-decorated, it is widely accepted and the house owner even get praise from their friends and relatives for his/her beautiful five-fruit tray. In the south, there are some certain fruits that are avoided because their pronunciation sounds like something not nice. For example, pear is not a common choice in the south as in Vietnamese, it is pronounced “le”, which can be understood as “being dragged”. The southerners also avoid durian fruits. Even many people love it, durian is not preferred because of its rather unpleasant smell and taste.
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| a typical five-fruit tray in the north |
As Vietnam is getting modernized, many traditional things are sinking into oblivion. Tet is not an exception. A perfect example is the increasing popularity of pistachio, chocolate, biscuits in place of the iconic candied fruit platter. However, the five-fruit tray remains an integral part of any families in Vietnam during Tet.
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