In the old time, Mid-Autumn Festival is often associated with the celebration of a successful harvest after a hardworking period.

The mooncakes with fillings of lotus and melon with salted egg yolk. Photo: Pan Pacific Hanoi

Nowadays, the festival is the chance for people to relax and reunite with loved ones. Although the meaning of the holiday may have changed slightly, the quintessence of the festival remains the same.

Just the chaos of life has slowly made us forget the thrill of this celebration and relegate it to a day only for children.

For adults, the full moon during the Mid-Autumn festival often inspires a sense of nostalgia, the tendency to reminisce about the past under the pale moonlight.

Though tantalizingly, it is also an occasion for the desire to mix the tradition and the modern to create a new state of beauty.

The culinary experts of hotels in Hanoi are introducing traditional mooncakes with the desire to bring a warm, loving Mid-Autumn Festival to Vietnamese and international guests alike, in an attempt to regain the festival’s old-time excitement.

Mooncake boxes are made by chefs from Hanoi Daewoo Hotel. Photo courtesy of the hotel

Hanoi Daewoo Hotel unveiled the mooncake collection with two special versions: the “Peony Treasures” and “Timeless Beauty” which symbol of perfection, wealth and happiness.

Presenting in the auspicious signature red box, adorned with graceful blooming peonies in emerald green and regal gold, the “Peony Treasures” version features six delectable time-honored flavors including Taro, Red Bean, Durian 6 Ri, Green Tea and Lotus Seed, Green Bean and Original Mix.

Meanwhile, the “Timeless Beauty” edition is a nostalgic tribute to the land of Trang An. The shadow of the pure white daisy blooms portrayed on a mint-tone box makes it a well-loved gift for Hanoians.

Accompanying the exquisite design are six signature flavors handcrafted to perfection by the hotel’s chefs. From lotus, coconut milk, and chia seeds to cranberry, green tea with almond and taro with almond, the delicate range of classic and modern mooncakes brings a harmonious symphony of finest ingredients, distinctive flavors and natural aromas. The taste of the mooncake is therefore sweet and ethereal, fragrant and refreshing, traditional yet contemporary.

A mooncake box with a lotus painting. Photo: JW Marriott Hanoi

Pricing starts at VND820,000 or US$35 per box of six small or three big mooncakes.

For the mooncake season this year, JW Marriott Hanoi presents a new set of Premium and Luxury boxes with six distinctive flavors and a choice of complimentary tea or wine for the ultimate celebration.

“Our box design is inspired by the painting ‘Lien Ngu Phu Quy’ with a meaning of wealth and happiness. This impressive painting of a Lotus, the national flower of Vietnam symbolizes beautiful simplicity while the carp represents a strong will and prosperity,” a hotel’s representative told The Hanoi Times.

The hotel offers exquisite tastes of Mooncakes with a selection of flavors such as pandan, taro, black sesame, chestnut chocolate, red bean, and white lotus paste with salted egg yolk. Pricing ranges from VND1,280,000 or $55 upwards for a box of four or six cakes with tea or a box of four with wine.

Pan Pacific Hanoi offers the mooncake box named “Khai Hoa Dac Nguyet”, “The Rhythms of Blossoms and The Moon”. The hotel’s shimmering silk-textured box is inspired by chrysanthemums, also known as one of the four “noble plants” in Vietnamese culture, which signifies courage, patience and optimism in adversity.

The mooncake box is named “Khai Hoa Dac Nguyet”. Photo: Pan Pacific Hanoi

Apart from the vibrant tone of moonlight blue, the artwork highlights the theme of blooming chrysanthemums, with a poetic window at its centerpiece representing abundant blessings and refreshing hope in autumn.

Moreover, the beautiful arch of chrysanthemums boasts a sophisticated design of stacked blossoms and border strokes that are embossed in gold emulsion. The subtle design signifies the beauty of gatherings, and peaceful moments with family and friends, that are priceless.

Masterfully handcrafted by the hotel chefs, each mooncake features the natural flavor with six types of fillings, including pineapple and almond with salted egg yolk; chocolate with cream cheese; ham with salted egg yolk; melon with salted egg yolk; chia seed with salted egg yolk; and lotus with salted egg yolk.

Aside from mooncakes delicately formed in the classic sets of four, eight and six cake boxes of different sizes, the hotel has also got beverage and golden gift pairing selections that come with premium VIP sets.

Mooncake collection has a price from VND658,000 or $28 per box.

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel's mooncake collection is named “Phi Minh Tuu Nguyet”. Photo courtesy of the hotel

In addition to the two traditional flavors of baked traditional mooncake with mixed nut and baked oolong tea with salted egg yolk mooncake for their offers this year, Sheraton Hanoi Hotel’s Pastry Chef Nguyen Thi Hong Ly and Executive Chef Nguyen Cong Chung also created new and attractive flavors including green tea and dried apricot mooncake; raspberry and pumpkin seed mooncake; mung bean and chia seed with salted egg yolk mooncake and lotus seed and walnut with salted egg yolk mooncake.

“With the demand for a thoughtful gift for Mid-Autumn Festival becoming prevalent each year, many new types of mooncake, both modern and traditional, have appeared on the market. It is quite like an art form to create mooncakes with a unique flavor yet still retain the charm of traditions. That is what we aim for every Autumn,” Chef Cong Chung told The Hanoi Times.

The hotel’s 2022 mooncake collection “Phi Minh Tuu Nguyet” or Ascends Towards the Moon has prices of VND899,000 or $38.3 for Delight Box of four mooncakes; VND959,000 or $41 for Deluxe Box of six pieces; and VND1,690,000 or $72 for box of three mooncakes.