Nuong BBQ, Meaty Kinds

My absolute favorite: octopus with spring onions
and green chili sauce!

You can't walk far in HCMC without tripping over a restaurant full of people sitting around tables, open flames lighting up the cluster of beer bottles. It's a magical thing.

Roasting meats and vegetables over a flame evokes some of our most base food instincts. It's comforting... it smells like survival. (Check out this great Smithsonian article "Why Fire Makes Us Human"). It also just plain smells AWESOME.

I have always been a bit of a pyromaniac. I love building fires, cooking, and gathering around them in the cool evening.

Evenings aren't so cool here in Vietnam... but the principle is the same! They're a way to gather with family, share the kill, and mingle over an invention that literally changed our very nature, in rich communion with our fellow humans.

Also, of course, BBQ is just plain great!