CHARLOTTE: Tet at St. Joseph's Vietnamese Catholic Church

Well over two weeks ago, the Vietnamese community rang in the lunar New Year, or Tet, with a lively celebration at St. Joseph's Vietnamese Catholic Church. The two-day festival brought thousands to the church grounds for a festival that celebrated culture, family, faith and food. I won't lie, I was there for the food.

The selection was a feast for the senses. Tables of Vietnamese delicacies lined the main tent from one end clear down to the other with nary an empty spot in front of each vendor. Families sat around large round tables eating and talking over the blaring entertainment coming from the fellowship hall. Vietnamese singers dressed in dazzling evening gowns and tuxedos performed for the captivated crowd while children and adults played games midway-style in the adjacent tent.

I met up with Kseniya Martin (@inthequeencity), a Twitter buddy cum real life friend, for our inaugural food adventure. Choosing what to eat was a tad overwhelming. We paced the tables trying to sort out our strategy and decided to share a few plates. We settled on Chao, a Vietnamese rice porridge filled with liver and blood sausage. The soup is served with a spoonful of black pepper, fresh chives and crispy onion bits. We also got a plate of Banh Tom, sweet potato and shrimp fritters which came with a side of Do Chua, Vietnamese pickled vegetables (carrots and daikon) and a fish sauce for dipping. For dessert was Che Nhan Nhuc, a beverage/dessert made of water infused with pandan leaves and filled with logans(similar to lychee), lotus seeds, seaweed and gelatin.

The best and most unexpected fun of the day was the Pho Eating Contest which my brave new buddy, Kseniya, decided to enter on the fly. Contestants were challenged to eat as much of the contents of a nine pound bowl of pho over the course of eight minutes. There was some stiff competition including the Mouth of the South, a gargantuan professional eater who gave a gross display of his
gluttonous prowess. The audience was both amazed and horrified. Kseniya whom I assume is always a lady did the best she could, taking diminutive sips and daintily tackling the giant bowl of soup. In the end, she was first loser but the day was a win in my book.

To read more about the wonderful food and deep faith of the Vietnamese community in Charlotte, check out this post in Creative Loafing where I discover the heart of the church and the soul of its famous noodle soup.