Vietnam

Vietnamese food is a study in balance and freshness, clean broths like pho, herb-piled rice-paper rolls, and the baguette-born banh mi. Fish sauce, lime, chili, and mountains of fresh herbs create a cuisine that feels both light and deeply savory, often eaten on low plastic stools.

Vietnam cooks differently along its length. The north is the most restrained, using less sugar and less chilli; the centre around Hue is the spiciest and the fondest of many small dishes at once; and the south is sweeter and richer, with more coconut and more fruit. Bun bo Hue announces the centre with fermented shrimp paste as much as with lemongrass.

Nuoc cham is the thing that never appears on a menu: fish sauce cut with lime, water, sugar, garlic and chilli, mixed to a ratio each household considers correct and set down beside almost everything. The fish sauce itself is anchovies and salt left in wooden barrels for months, and the EU registered Phu Quoc island's version as a protected name in 2012.

A crackly baguette stuffed with pâté, pork, pickled daikon-carrot, cilantro, and chili, French bread reborn in Saigon.