Vietnam's preffered breakfast is not a warm baguette. It is pho, a beef noodle soup served with cilantro, lime, bean sprouts and fish sauce.
Why on earth should that be? it's not as if the stuff is easy to make; it requires about twenty ingredients and takes hours to prepare. It can't be eaten on the run. The thing was only invented about a hundred years ago anyway.
The answer, as I've discovered, probably has to do with balance. It's true that pho is a filling, cheap, nutritious meal, but more important than that is the heat. Vietnam is a tropical country, and more than once I've found my wiping the sweat off my brow after five minutes outside. Eating a bowl of hot soup, however, seems to take the edge off. As the temperature inside rises to meet the temperature outside. you begin to feel yourself again, and you may even have the courage to cross the street.
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