Bảo tàng lịch sử Quốc gia

Speaking of the gastronomy of the royal court of Hue, it is to speak of the manner of eating and of the dishes of the emperors and of the imperial family of Nguyen (1802-1945). The people calls these dishes, “the royal dishes of mounts and sea”, but no one knows what they are exactly, except some well-known dishes. The discovery of bones and teeth during the archaeological exploration at the quarter Thuong Thien So (quarter of the theatre of Duyet Thi Duong – Royal Palace of Hue) in 1999-2000 has disclosed the door for the knowledge of these “royal dishes of mounts and sea”.

According to the annals, Thuong Thien So was the place where the king and the royal family are served to eat. The place has been built in 1826, and comprises from the beginning a building of 7 cases and another of 2 cases on the left. Thuong Thien So is situated at the north-east of the theatre Duyet Thi Duong and communicates with it by a little door, called door of Thuong Thien So.

The collection of bones and teeth of animals discovered is found chiefly in the soil of the quarter of Thuong Thien So. The vestiges, well preserved, are bones, teeth, horns of animals, shells of molluscs, turtle-shells, fish-vertebrae… All have been broken to gather the marrow for the dishes. Only certain toes or certain bones, too hard or containing too little marrow, are left intact, such as toes of stags, buffaloes or oxen… The bones, the teeth, the horns and other remains of animals are the waste of prepared dishes. Analysis shows that these remains belong to mammifers, reptiles, fishes and invertebrates.

Among mammifers, there are buffaloes and oxen (wild buffaloes, domestic buffaloes and oxen), goats (domestic), stags (stags, roes, deers), birds, rhinoceros, elephants, pigs (wild boars and pigs). Reptiles comprise crocodiles, sea-turtles. The types of fish have not been determined. Invertebrates comprise sea shells, snails and sea-oysters.

The above-mentioned remains are chiefly waste dishes of Thuong Thien So. Thuong Thien So is charged with the daily meals of the king, the dishes here as well as those of the group Phung Thien (kitchen of ladies) and of those of Ty Ly Thien (kitchen for the meals of feasts and for the banquets of the palaces) are analogous. The text of the annals shows that the remains of dishes here are in accord with the menus of the palace. The chapter Preparation of feasts in the Kham dinh Dai Nam hoi dien su le describes in detail the menus of feasts of the palace, which comprise dishes such as: “assorted dishes of pork, of oxen, of stags, of pea-cocks, of goats, of wild boars, of shrimps, of mackerels, soup of pork, of big-tailed goats, of pork legs, of crabs, pieces of beef, of half-cooked stags, of porc, of big-tailed goats, roasted goose, chicken, duck, sea-turtle, stag, pork, water birds, fox, wild ducks, wild boars, beef, goose, chicken, duck, big-tailed goat, pea-cock, stew of stag, of big-tailed goat, of pork, of ham, of goose, of duck, of chicken, of frogs, of eels, of heads of frog, of rabbit, of beef, soup of bird and wild boar, of big-tailed goat, of stag tendon, of hawk, of oyster, of sea-slug, of mushroom, of shark fin, of turtle, of frog, of duck, of skin of scaly ant-eater, of eel, of swallow, of chicken, fried skin of scaly ant-eater…”

Or in the chapter Animals used in ceremonies as sacrifices, are described the preparations and the breeding of oxen, buffaloes, pigs, deers, wild boars… to be used in ceremonies: “ In the 18^th year, the following decree was signed: At the 1^st, 8^th, 11^th month, the hunters go and hunt the wild beasts to serve as sacrifices in ceremonies. The beasts, hunted or bought (including stags and red deers) are raised in the park of deers if they are alive and healthy. If they are wounded by knives, they are transferred to the department Ly Thien who will kill them to make dried nem. The wild boars which have been raised for a too long time, generally will grow lean and are also killed to make dried nem, which are conserved carefully in storehouses for the ceremonies.”

Again, “with animals killed in ceremonies, their bowels, bones and blood must be transferred by the Ministry of Ceremonies to the Department Ly Thien to be buried in a clean place…”

Thus, the remains of animals discovered come from animals killed for the dishes of the king. We have been able to determine the animals currently used in meals of the king. These are particularly precious informations for the study of the gastronomical history in general and the gastronomical culture of the court of Vietnam in particular.

Nguyen Ngoc Chat