Missing the sweet and sour taste of vegetarian food

My childhood was filled with the sweet taste of the countryside garden. All kinds of ripe yellow fruits fell in my memories. Each season had its own fruit, the countryside garden was filled with the chirping of birds and the murmur of children waiting to steal them. In the countryside garden, there were fruits that could be eaten, but there were also species that were only used as toys for children. There were species that had economic value and were carefully cared for and protected, but there were also many species that were just snacks that grew naturally and wildly everywhere. Chay fruit hovered in the middle of all of that.

In late spring, chay flowers. The tiny flowers grow singly under the leaf axils. In early summer, the fruit begins to set and around the seventh lunar month, chay begins to ripen simultaneously. But no children can wait that long. When the chay fruit has slightly swollen skin, even though it is still green, it is picked and dipped in salt and chili. Green chay is sour, you eat it with a grimace but still full of delight, those who cannot eat sour food stand watching their friends eat it and drool with longing.

Ripe chay is soft and crunchy, broken in half, the inside is a very pleasing pink color. Ripe chay has a sweet and sour taste, helping the body cool down in the summer. Chay fruit is not only a favorite gift of children but also very popular with adults. Chay ripens very quickly, in bulk, if you don't have time to pick it, it will fall all over the ground in a few days. People eat chay raw or use it to cook sour soup, to braise freshwater fish. When I grew up, I learned that chay is also an important ingredient in many traditional medicine recipes...

In addition to its fruit, the chay tree also has a very important role in the spiritual and cultural life of the countryside with the betel chewing custom of the grandmothers and mothers. Eating a piece of betel must have four ingredients to be delicious: the sweetness of areca nut, the spiciness of betel, the bitterness of chay root (or chay bark) and the pungent taste of lime. The combination of these flavors creates a stimulant to make the mouth fragrant, the lips red, the teeth strong and becomes a ritual at the beginning of a conversation.

Modern life, the changing countryside, the crowded population, the struggle for survival have gradually swept away the beautiful memories of the past into oblivion. Sitting and searching, I was suddenly shocked to see that my whole village now has no more plants...

The village is still here, the names of places and people still echo in the geographical records, but the sweet and sour taste of childhood has faded into the distant world. Listening to her story, thanks to her reminder, I suddenly remember and feel regretful about the past, the things that remain with time. Missing the sweet and sour taste of chay fruit, of childhood, I feel moved and remember the lullaby of my grandmother and mother years ago:“Green betel, white areca, yellow areca nut/ Silver-covered betel tray for you and I to share/ Green betel, white areca nut, pink areca nut/ Lime mixed with meaning, strong tobacco with fate”.