Training on tourism cuisine for forest-dependent communities in Kim Thuy

The training course “Tourism cuisine for communities living dependent on forests” in the buffer zone of Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong Nature Reserve in Kim Thuy commune, Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province took place on June 28, 2022, jointly organized by Helvetas, Netin Travel Tourism Company and local partners.

The training course lasted for 1 day with the enthusiastic participation of 20 Van Kieu ethnic trainees from 2 border villages of Kim Thuy commune, including Ho-Rum and Trung Doan. The trainees included 8 men and 12 women, with an average age of 30 to 35, who are community members enthusiastic about tourism. Lecturers from Quang Binh University and Quang Binh College of Industry and Agriculture instructed the people on how to prepare dishes and drinks from locally available ingredients. The trainees were inspired to be creative by coming up with ingredients and ways to decorate the meal trays that are rich in national cultural identity and friendly to nature.

The use of leaves from the surrounding villages for decoration evokes a sense of environmental friendliness and creates a unique feature of the local cuisine. The meal is named “Xa la party”, meaning “Leaf Party”. “Xa la” in the Van Kieu ethnic language means “leaf”.

In addition, students also learn how to serve customers with a friendly smile and attentiveness. Students are encouraged to wear traditional costumes to demonstrate the unique culture of the Van Kieu people.

The training course not only provides the community with more knowledge and skills, but also provides an opportunity for the community to look back at unique cultural features that they sometimes do not realize their special value. This is an opportunity to help the community become more united, with the elderly and the young, men and women all working together to prepare food and drinks to serve guests. Community values ​​and mutual support will be maintained and further promoted through tourism activities.

This is one of a series of activities under the Biodiversity Conservation component of the VFBC project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project aims to maintain and enhance forest quality in areas of high conservation value, protect and balance wildlife populations, species and habitats in provinces of high conservation value. One of the project interventions is to create sustainable livelihoods for forest-dependent communities through community-based ecotourism to reduce pressure on forests and contribute to biodiversity conservation.

Helvetas Organization and Netin Travel Company will continue to work with the community to exploit the beauty of traditional culture and cuisine to build community ecotourism products that bring interesting experiences to tourists who love to explore in the Dong Chau – Khe Nuoc Trong area.