Vietnam, for all its poverty, is a land rich with abundant natural resources and potential. I here are many holidays and festivals accompanied by special food. as well as weddings and other family celebrations. For a festival, the family coffers are broken open and no matter how much they hold. it is deemed insufficient. They will go towards the Vietnamese version of Peking duck, sliced into juicy slabs, drizzled with a piquant sauce The more highly prized species of fish will be steamed or braised whole, and the cooks will give themselves over to the Chinese penchant for elaborate decoration. In the highly structured Vietnamese society, the standard meal 3s knocked askew lor the feast. symbolising the tact that during the festival the world is a different, better, place. Attendance at a festive meal in Vietnam will convince you, should you even need convincing, that the Vietnamese do nol eat 10 live, but live to eat.