Ben Tre, the green coconut land of the Southwest, is not only charming with its charming scenery but also famous for its traditional coconut candy making. Each piece of fragrant, fatty, sweet coconut candy is the crystallization of nature, culture and the enthusiasm of the people here.
About 85km west of bustling Saigon, Ben Tre appears like a green gem in the Southwest, a place blessed by nature with charming scenery and a mild climate. For generations, this coconut land has been deeply engraved in people’s hearts by the simplicity, rusticity and warmth of nature and people here.
The land of Ben Tre is surrounded by two large rivers, the Tien River and the Co Chien River, like two arms embracing a fertile, rich land. People still affectionately call Ben Tre “Coconut Land”, because here, the green coconut rows stretch endlessly, like fresh strokes on a peaceful natural picture.
Not only famous for its green beauty, Ben Tre is also an ideal destination for those who love to learn about culture and explore traditional craft villages. Among them, the craft of making coconut candy – a sweet symbol of the land and people of Ben Tre – is one of the handicrafts that has become the pride of the whole region.
The craft of making coconut candy in Ben Tre is more than a century old, closely associated with the lives of many generations of people here. According to the elders, this craft appeared around the 30s of the 20th century, originating from Mo Cay district (now Mo Cay Nam). The first candies were born with a unique flavor, sweet and fatty from coconut milk, creating the specialty “Mo Cay candy” – later famous throughout the country with the name Ben Tre coconut candy.
Coconut candy is not only a sweet gift but also a delicate symbol of traditional handicraft art. Under the skillful and talented hands of skilled craftsmen, each coconut candy is born with the rich, quintessential flavor of the homeland. The rich aroma of coconut milk blends with the gentle sweetness of malt and brown sugar, creating chewy, sweet but not harsh candies, subtly appealing to the taste buds.
To make the famous delicious coconut candy, the craftsman must be meticulous in every step. The main ingredients of coconut candy include coconut milk, malt and brown sugar, but to create a unique flavor, everything needs to be carefully selected. Malt must be made from good, germinated sticky rice; coconut milk must be pressed from old, fatty coconuts. As for sugar, it must be brown sugar, which has a light sweetness and is not as rich as white sugar.
The candy making process is simple but requires patience and high skills. In the early days when there was no support from machines, the workers had to prepare everything by hand from early morning, from scraping coconut, squeezing coconut milk, cooking malt, to roasting and wrapping each candy. Through each stage, the passion and skill of the workers are put into each candy, creating a sweet, rich flavor of coconut land that is hard to match anywhere else.
Nowadays, with the development of science and technology, many modern machines have been applied to the production process, helping to increase productivity and quality. However, traditional coconut candy production facilities still maintain the traditional manual methods to preserve the irreplaceable characteristic flavor.
Traditional coconut candy has only one original flavor from coconut milk, but to meet the increasingly diverse needs of the market, Ben Tre artisans have created many different flavors such as durian, peanuts, cocoa, pandan leaves… These variations bring new experiences to the connoisseurs but still retain the soul of traditional coconut candy. Each small candy is a work of art, the crystallization of nature, culture and the passion of the people of Ben Tre.
A special highlight when coming to Ben Tre is that visitors can experience making coconut candy themselves at the production workshops. Here, visitors can not only admire the sophisticated manual process but also directly participate in the stages from scraping coconut, spinning candy to wrapping candy. The hot candies just out of the oven have a gentle aroma and a characteristic fatty taste that will make visitors remember forever.
Currently, Ben Tre has more than 180 coconut candy production facilities with an annual output of up to tens of thousands of tons. Coconut candy production facilities open to visitors such as in Mo Cay Nam, Mo Cay Bac, Chau Thanh districts or in Ward 7, Ben Tre city all attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists. Not only that, Ben Tre is also famous for its river eco-tours, where visitors can take a boat ride around the lush green coconut gardens, enjoy a glass of fresh, sweet coconut water right in the garden and explore the simple life of the people of the Coconut land.
The craft of making coconut candy in Ben Tre is not only a cultural heritage of this land, but also a resource to promote local economic and tourism development. Coconut candy products today have been exported to many countries, bringing the sweet taste and the story of the culture of the Coconut land to international friends.
Ben Tre coconut candy is not only a sweet dish, but also a symbol of the hard-working spirit, dexterity and endless creativity of the people here. Each piece of coconut candy is not simply a handmade product, but also contains the soul of culture, the love of people and the beauty of nature.
