The ladies selling pomelo at the festival.(Source: VNA)Thua Thien – Hue (VNA) – A festival featuring the “thanh tra pomelo”, a specialty ofthe central province of Thua Thien-Hue, opened in Hue city on August 31 topromote the trademark of the product as well as tourism in the former royal capital city.
Thisyear, the biennial event has 60 booths introducing thanh tra pomelo grown indifferent localities across the province, including Thuy Bieu of Hue city,Phong Thu in Phong Dien district, Huong Van in Huong Tra town, and Duong Hoa inHuong Thuy town. The fruit takes on a unique flavour according to each localityit is grown in.
Thefruit has become famous due to its unique taste. It is sweeter and does nothave the slightly bitter taste found in other types of pomelo. It also has alight mint flavour.
The fruit has become renowned as it was once famouslyreserved for only the royal family members of the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945).
Originally, the citrus tree was grown only inthose three villages, where alluvia soil was deposited annually by the Huongand Bo rivers. A decade ago, farmers in other regions around Hue startedplanting the trees to meet the increasing demand of this specialty fruit fromlocalities around the country.
Experts, however, have said that the fruit grownoutside those three villages are not as tasty, explaining that the differenceis due to the difference in soil.
At the festival, visitors get chance to tastedishes made with the fruit’s flesh, peel, and leaves. These include pomelowine, pomelo spring rolls, pomelo sweet soup, pomelo tea, chicken salad withchopped pomelo leaves, dry squid-pomelo salad, and pomelo peel marmalade.During the day, organisers provide electric buses to transport those who wantto visit the thanh tra pomelo orchards.
They will also have chances to visit thanhtra farms and some other famous tourism destinations of Hue city’s Thuy Bieuwards.
Currently, Thua Thien-Hue has about1,114ha of thanh tra pomelo farms. In Thuy Bieu commune alone, 127ha out of a total147ha harvest the fruit with the production of 450-500 tonnes per year, helpinglocal farmers earn 20-25 billion VND per year. –VNA
VNA
