Other culinary influences leaked in too. Local cooks used meat scraps and unused bones from French butchers to create pho – the national dish of beef or chicken noodle soup, according to Peters. Coffee and creme caramel are some of the other French culinary leftovers.
The ubiquity of those influences will not be lost on President Hollande, who arrives on Monday for talks with Vietnam’s leadership and French businessmen.
Today, Vietnam’s commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City is dotted with chic cafes serving croque monsieur and macarons at Paris prices. But the US$1 banh mi still rules Hanoi’s street food scene. It is so engrained in Vietnam’s culinary culture that few draw its lineage back to France