Imperial Cuisine

The city of Hue, right on the Perfume river was the Imperial capital of Vietnam for 150 years.
In that time there was an Emperor named Tu Duc, a really picky eater, who demanded his food be different than that served to ordinary people.

SO the chefs of the time transformed food into art.
The trend stuck and its since been known as "Imperial Cuisine"

There are a few places in Hue that still carry on the tradition.. and amazingly most of the chefs preparing this cuisine are women who have lineage that can be traced back to imperial households.

This knowledge has been passed down through the generations.
This is what we ate!










And here is one of the entrances to the old Imperial City