In Vietnamese culture, the image of pigs symbolizes warmth, leisure and prosperity. In the past, when Tet came, families often bought each other Dong Ho paintings with the picture "Pig group of yin and yang" or "Pig eating taro". During the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the moon-viewing tray, moon cakes shaped like mother pigs and piglets were the joy of many children. The image of children carrying pig baskets and humming songs became beautiful memories for those who passed through the old moon season:
“Three women went to sell piglets, but couldn't sell them so they ran home. Three women went to sell fat pigs, but couldn't sell them so they ran home...”.
Fall in love with grilled pork cake
Looking for the joy of children in the old moon season, I came to the Ba Giau pig-shaped cake brand at 19 Nguyen Sieu (Hang Buom ward, Hoan Kiem district). Inside the peaceful little house, hidden behind the hustle and bustle of the famous vermicelli and snail noodle shops on the street, Mr. Ba and his wife are busy making batches of pig-shaped cakes for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival.
As soon as I entered Mr. Ba’s cozy kitchen, I noticed the table full of freshly baked pork cakes. Each one looked very appealing, plump and fragrant. Mrs. Thai, Mr. Ba’s wife, told me: “Every year, my family makes cakes from the 15th of the 7th lunar month. But this year, we start making them around the beginning of August and stop at the 15th.”
Continuing his wife's words, Mr. Ba - now over 70 years old, told me that his family started making pig cakes in 1988. Before that, he also made cookies, sponge cakes, and moon cakes in traditional shapes. Until one time when he went to Tram Troi (Hoai Duc district, Hanoi) to visit a friend, Mr. Ba accidentally passed by a pig pen, inside were piglets squirming and fighting to suckle their mother.
“The image of piglets fighting over their mother’s milk has been imprinted in my mind ever since. When I got home, I decided to specialize in making moon cakes shaped like pigs,” Mr. Ba recalled.
Asked about the brand name “Ba Giau”, Mr. Ba said that it was his nickname at home. His real name is Truong Huu Ba. After nearly 40 years of diligently making pork cakes, the gray-haired man shared that he cannot make as much as before, but he still has to make them every year because he “misses the job and the pigs”. He and his wife still make each part, from the crust to the filling, of the cake themselves. Because according to him, only then can the pork cakes have soul and retain the delicious traditional flavor.
Revealing the secret to making each cake have a traditional flavor, Mr. Ba told me that right from the stage of choosing the ingredients, you have to be very meticulous. For the cake crust, you need to choose good flour, cool to the touch, smooth, and fragrant. Then mix the flour with the right amount of sugar water according to the recipe that he has drawn up after many years of working in the profession. Besides, to make the cake cook evenly and have a beautiful golden color, when baking, you have to control the temperature and brush the surface of the cake with eggs.
As for the filling, the shop currently has two types: coconut-sesame and mung bean-salted egg. “The coconut must be exported. As for the salted egg, I pickle it myself,” said Ms. Thai.
To have batches of fatty, rich, golden salted eggs, Mrs. Thai must choose small duck eggs and salt them a month before the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for the mung beans, they must be steamed and then pureed like making sweet soup to achieve the desired result.
“Squeezing” joy through every cake
Besides the delicious, rustic flavor, the most unique thing about the Ba Giau brand is the soulful pig cakes. Among the many types of green and red moon cakes today, Mr. Ba's pig cakes make everyone smile, especially children. The pig cakes are molded by the talented hands of a craftsman who has been in the profession for nearly 40 years, each one has a funny, humorous, and lively beauty like a real pig.
“People often say that pigs have ugly faces, but they are actually very pretty. The pig’s nose, eyes, and ears are round and harmonious, looking extremely adorable,” Mr. Ba happily shared.
Fascinated by the rustic beauty of pigs, he researched how to create pig cakes to resemble the shape of real life. In the early days, when he was not satisfied with the pig cakes, he kept making them. Kneading dough, shaping by hand, curling the tail, wagging the tail, folding the ears... until he was satisfied with the most perfect parts of the pig.
“Each litter of piglets I make now takes about 10 minutes. Ten of them look the same, with noses, eyes, ears, and tails, but each one has a different expression,” Mr. Ba said enthusiastically, pointing to the box containing the piglets suckling their mother: “This is the mother pig, this is the piglet suckling, this is the piglet turning around after it is full.”
How meticulous and careful! Mr. Ba is no different from a “pig caretaker”, understanding the eating and sleeping habits of each pig he takes care of.
Mr. Ba confided to me, his eyes could not hide his joy: “When children see my piggy cakes, they fondle them in their hands, kiss them over and over, and smile happily. That is when I feel happiest when making these cakes”. It is also the sincerity and loveliness in each cake that has helped the Ba Giau piggy cake brand become popular in Hang Duong and Thuy Khue cake shops, and even “take off” to England, America, Denmark...
Outside, it was drizzling, inviting me to enjoy a piece of sweet coconut-filled pork cake with a cup of warm tea, Mr. Ba told me that the greatest joy that made him stick with his job was the smiles of children. Among them, he remembered most one night, after finishing his security shift, when he came home, he saw two children selling goods on the street. Seeing the child looked tired and sleepy, he immediately gave them money, but they were not excited. "When I gave them the pork cake, immediately, the child's face brightened, happily looked at it and thanked me," Mr. Ba happily recalled.
Nowadays, in the midst of modern life, when the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, traditional toys and confectionery products are struggling to find a "place", Mr. Ba still diligently hand-molds each pig cake. Perhaps, he still remembers the image of piglets suckling their mother, or the smiles of children who cherished and hugged the cake he made with his own hands. Or like the title "Mid-Autumn Festival of Vietnam - Vietnamese Pig Cake" of the Ba Giau brand, he keeps the profession as a way to preserve the traditional beauty of the pig cake that has been associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival of Vietnamese people for generations.
