FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Romance wrapped in a banana leaf

Romance wrapped in a banana leaf

Lao buy their Buddhist Lent rice cakes at the market these days, but there was a time when boys and girls flirted as they made their own

The eves of holy days during Buddhist Lent bring out nourishment for the body to match that offered the soul. On roadsides and in markets in Vientiane, booths sell rice cakes made just for the annual rites, khao tom and khao nom.
For the holy days Hor Khaopadapdin, Hor Khaosalark and Ork Phansa, these cakes reappear as they have done for centuries in Laos. Traditionally made at home but increasingly purchased from vendors in these busier times, they are typically shared with monks as part of the morning alms distribution.
The day after tomorrow is an important one for Lao Buddhists – Hor Khaosalark – and khao tom and khao nom will be an integral part of its celebration. 
These days, rural people tend to devote more time and energy to the preparations than their urban cousins, but it wasn’t always thus. Everyone used to make the festive foodstuffs by themselves – just enough for the family and a few monks – and rice cakes were never found in the markets.
Making the cakes was a lot of fun for the family, especially for the young people, says a 40-year-old woman named Viengkham. “When I was in secondary school, Buddhist Lent was always fun because there were so many activities we could take part in, especially preparing the food for the holy days.” 
The day before Hor Khaosalark, in the early morning, people would collect banana leaves and dry them in the sun to toughen them, or, if the weather was cool, they’d steam the leaves so they wouldn’t break when wrapping the rice,” Viengkham recalled.
In the early evening the young people would gather in groups and visit each other’s houses throughout the village to make the rice cakes. It was a good time for young men and women to get acquainted, and no doubt many a romance began this way. 
Shyness (and proper manners) prevailed in those days – you couldn’t very well come right out and profess your attraction to someone of the opposite sex. 
A favourite trick among the young ladies, says Viengkham, was to mix chillies into some of the rice, which they hoped would teach a lesson to the guys they didn’t fancy who might come to woo them later that night. It was common for the boys to wash up after their days’ chores and visit the girls’ homes in groups to eat together.
There was no way of knowing who’d get the hot cakes, though, because the girls would jumble them together in the same bowl. “We’d ask the guys if our rice cakes were delicious enough, and basically everyone said yes, so we sometimes didn’t know who got the spicy ones. But usually we could see by the look on their face or if they’d suddenly call out for water!”
Since the cakes were all mixed in together, it wasn’t the best way to fend off unwanted attention, Viengkham admits. “Putting chilli in the cakes didn’t necessarily mean there were some boys we didn’t like – we did it mostly just for fun, so the guys didn’t get angry with us or anything. But we did have to be careful not to take any chilli cakes to the temple!”
Of course young people nowadays have other means of courtship and other ways to tease each other. Few of them would be interested in making cakes together, and anyway the cakes are easily bought in the market. Meanwhile older people, especially those living in the cities, are too busy to make their own holiday treats.
The vendors have at least maintained the huge variety of textures and styles among rice cakes, |but a lot of people are like Viengkhram, missing an old-fashioned annual routine that brought so much joy. “Every Hor Khaosalark and Hor Khaopadapdin reminds me of what my friends and family used to do in the past. 
There was like a unity among people because |we always helped each other, whatever we were doing.”
Buying the cakes each year might be the cheaper way, she says, but the camaraderie involved in making your own with friends was priceless.
 
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