Vietnamese nem, phở included in Paris Olympic dishes

Olympics

Nem (left) and phở are among main dishes at the Paris Games 2024. VNA/VNS Photo

PARIS — The Paris Olympics organising committee has chosen two Vietnamese dishes to serve athletes at the Games.

Serving over 11,000 competitors, along with thousands of officials, coaches and staff, the athlete’s village has effectively become the largest restaurant in the world, offering all types of cuisine to meet the nutritional needs and cultural habits.

According to the home website olympics.com, it will deliver about 13 million meals, from breakfast to dinner, from sandwiches to reception buffets. It is equivalent to the amount provided at ten football World Cup tournaments.

Among those dishes are Việt Nam’s wel-known phở (noodle soup with beef or chicken) and nem (fried spring rolls).

Seasia.co, a website specialising in Southeast Asia, delivers news of Vietnamese dishes at the Paris Olympics.

Notably, in the Asian pavilion, phở is referred to as ‘Soup of the day’ and served at all three main meals. The nutritional information of the dish is also published on the official system, helping participants to refer to it.

Not only that, the organising committee also gives a special national mention to the nem when introducing it as ‘Vietnamese cuisine’ instead of using the previous popular names such as ‘spring roll’, according to seasia.co, a website specialising in Southeast Asia news.

Phở was introduced to the Olympic community at the Rio Games in 2016 and Tokyo Games in 2021. VNS