The Bread Is French. The Bánh Mì Is Vietnamese. (Here's Why)

The crust shatters, then pâté, pork, pickles, cilantro and chili. In 2011 its name entered the Oxford English Dictionary. But the bread inside arrived in Vietnam with French soldiers. 🥖 In this video: why the word bánh mì is older than the sandwich (and does NOT come from "pain de mie"), how the French baguette became the lighter Vietnamese loaf, how a bakery opened by northern migrants in 1958 Saigon put everything inside the bread, and how refugees carried bánh mì around the world. Then we make 4 bánh mì at home in 30 minutes. 60-second version:    • The Bread Is French. The Sandwich Isn't. 🥖...   CHAPTERS 0:00 One sandwich, one surprise 0:28 The word is older than the sandwich 0:51 The baguette arrives 1:20 A foreign food 1:41 Vietnamese bakers change the loaf 2:09 1954, Saigon and the bakery called Hòa Mã 2:45 The filling becomes Vietnamese 3:21 Bánh mì goes global 3:52 The dictionary and the Doodle 4:11 Make it: easy bánh mì RECIPE: EASY BÁNH MÌ (4 sandwiches, 30 minutes) Ingredients: 4 small light baguettes; 200 g (7 oz) Vietnamese pork roll (chả lụa) or good ham; 4 tbsp liver pâté; 4 tbsp mayonnaise; 1 carrot; 1 small daikon; 2 tbsp sugar; 2 tbsp rice vinegar; pinch of salt; 1 cucumber; cilantro; 1 chili; soy sauce or Maggi. 1. Cut carrot and daikon into matchsticks, mix with sugar, vinegar and salt, rest 15 minutes (đồ chua). 2. Warm the baguettes in a hot oven about 5 minutes until the crust crackles. 3. Split each loaf; spread pâté on one side, mayonnaise on the other. 4. Layer pork, cucumber, pickles, cilantro and chili; add a few drops of soy sauce. Eat right away. What's in YOUR perfect bánh mì? Tell me in the comments, and subscribe for more food history. Sources: Vũ Hồng Liên, Rice and Baguette: A History of Food in Vietnam (2016); Jean-Louis Taberd, Dictionarium Latino-Annamiticum (1838); Andrew Lam, "The Marvel of Bánh Mì", Cairo Review (2015); Saigoneer / Roads & Kingdoms (Simon Stanley), "The Saga of the Bánh Mì" (2016); Oxford English Dictionary (2011); Google Doodle, 24 March 2020. #banhmi #foodhistory #vietnamesefood #sandwich #saigon