Saigon "Pate Choud" in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A DELICIOUS FIND IN A NEW BURB IN HO CHI MINH CITY

I can hear what my 12,000 readers are saying now.... what is he talking about?.....isn't Saigon the former name of what is now known worldwide as Ho Chi Minh City?

The word "Saigon" evokes a panache for life. The kind of life found in the city of Ho Chi Minh City. A city with a cultural legacy which any visitor must unravel before he (or she) can say that they really touched this city's soul. And, this goes to my 12,000 "travel to eat" blog readers, too!

Recently, I had the benefit of experiencing this city through the daily lives of two of its returning residents......Michel and Thieu, two mature Vietnamese - French residents who lived in Saigon, Paris, San Diego, D.C., Orange County and Tokyo over the years.

They are a tad older than me, but much richer in their philosophy of life....filled with optimism and generosity!

They took me to a neighborhood patisserie for some pate choud ("choud" means hot in French.)

The neighborhood in question - Phu My Hung - sprang to life practically overnight when a Taiwanese developer took up the challenge and turned marsh land into a booming suburb.

This patisserie is a venue created by a former pastry chef who worked for five years under the eye of a French chef in Ho Chi Minh City's famed Caravelle Hotel.

Pate choud - when made perfectly - is an exquisite, light, but flaky pastry puff about 4-5 cm in height with a small amount of minced pork inside.

Though there's a heavy French influence in Ho Chi Minh City, I had always thought that pate choud was a Vietnamese original, but Michel corrected me by underscoring that it's a French concoction!

Well, the one I ate (actually I had three!) was perfect in every way........flaky......light.......with a wonderfully fragrant portion of pork in its cavity!

Michel claims that this pate choud is the best in Ho Chi Minh City and equal to the best in Paris!
Well, I've never tried the ones in Paris, but I have had pate choud in San Francisco, San Diego and New York City....but, never as good as this!

If you want to give it a try - it only costs 10,000 dong each or 60 American cents.....you'll need to travel out to District 7, Phu My Hung and visit the Sky Garden on the main boulevard....unit SB11-2

It's called Le Fraisier.

They don't have tables, but they will set one up for you so you can "have your cake and eat it too".....so, to speak!

While you're there cross the big boulevard and take a tour of the "Beverly Hills" of Ho Chi Minh City.......lots of Korean BBQ restaurants.....a few new Japanese restaurants.....one very nice Chinese restaurant and, a popular low cost Vietnamese soup place called "Ong Gia Pho" at 83/10 Nam Long 1 - Ha Huy Tap

Give it all a try on your next trip to "Saigon!"