Give a Vietnamese any food item, and they’ll figure out how to ferment or pickle it - be it radishes, cabbage, bean sprouts, tomatillos, June plum, fish, or soy beans…The art of food preservation runs in our blood as deeply as the rich rivers that engrave the map of the country like the veins of grandma’s wrinkly, weathered hands.

But the motive for this tradition goes far beyond a cuisine preference. It’s rooted in survival. The legend has it…

Once upon a time, the Water God Thủy Tinh and the Mountain God Sơn Tinh were rivals for the love of Princess Mỵ Nương. Sơn Tinh was selected and, unable to accept defeat, the vengeful Thủy Tinh summoned the power of the monsoon wind and torrential rain to destroy Sơn Tinh. In defense of his land, Sơn Tinh conjured the spirits of the mountains to ascend and assembled the majestic mountain fortresses that weave throughout the Vietnamese landscape today.

Thủy Tinh was forced to retreat, but he never forgets the old wounds. And so every year, Thủy Tinh descends his furious wrath upon Earth. And thus in this undiscriminating battle of the gods, the people suffer.

So when the very rivers that nourish our livelihoods morph into cruel tidal floods that wash away our crops, we retreat to higher ground: often the cramped loft space under the roof, where we store rice and other provisions - the fermented/pickled foods we’ve been saving in anticipation of the gods’ vindictive rage.

So if you visit me, don’t be surprised that I always have random jars of fermented/pickled anything stocked throughout the house. I can’t help it. It’s engraved in my DNA.