Why are Australians obsessed with bánh mì, the Vietnamese roll with the complex history?

A crispy, fresh baguette. Briny pickled vegetables. A slick of pate and mayo. Fresh coriander, chillies and a hearty protein.

These are the essential ingredients for the bánh mì, the sandwich that has become one of Australia's favourite lunch options.

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And while Vietnamese bakeries have been serving these delicious, affordable sandwiches to city dwellers since the 1980s, the craving for authentic Asian flavours in the early 2000s saw the demand for bánh mì grow.

Now bánh mì shops are popping up across the country, including in regional towns such as Tamworth and Alice Springs.

So, how and why did Australians become obsessed with bánh mì?

French influence

The sandwich was first created in Vietnam after the arrival of French colonialists with their unmistakable bread.

"The bánh mì literally is just the name for the baguette. And that particular baguette is not like a French baguette, but it's a fluffier and lighter version, and that has to do with climate," Dr Anh Nguyen Austen tells ABC Radio National's Sunday Extra.

The French influence extends to the inclusion of the pate and cold cuts, also known as charcuterie.

And so the humble bánh mì signifies Vietnam's ability to maintain its cultural integrity despite colonial pressures.

"You can see the fusion in food as an imprint or a watermark of colonial adaptation or assimilation. The Vietnamese don't feel particularly threatened by colonial presence," says Dr Nguyen Austen.

"We're kind of used to the long game, dealing with a history of domination and colonialism, but with a quiet endurance and strength over time."

Rise of Vietnamese businesses

The 1980s saw a rise of Vietnamese small businesses in Australia, with those who migrated here armed with strong business acumen, says Dr Nguyen Austen.

Business owner Jasmine Dinh's family settled in Bankstown in Sydney's south-west in the seventies. They opened a bánh mì shop in 1988.

"The Vietnamese perception is if you can be in business and work for yourself, then it's better than working for somebody else," says Ms Dinh.

Her store is located in an area with a strong Vietnamese community, and the majority of her customers were once predominantly from that background.

However, she's seen a shift in her client base over the last decade.

Sandwich culture

Sandwich culture saw the bánh mì quickly rise in popularity.

Dr Nguyen Austen says sandwiches have always been popular, particularly with tradies, due to their affordability and convenience.

"The price point of bánh mì made it extremely affordable to the working class … that kind of brought the assimilation possibility."

Vietnamese restaurant owner Kelly Le says these days, most of her customers are tradesmen.

Yet when she opened her business in Carrum Downs, Victoria, in 2017, none of the locals knew what bánh mì was.

"They said, 'Oh, can I have a pho roll?' They didn't even know pho is a dish and bánh mì is a different dish," she explains.

Initially, her customers asked for burgers instead of bánh mì, but after one factory worker tasted a bánh mì, word of the delicious crispy rolls soon spread.

"One person came and had bánh mì, and then they went back to the factory and then all his friends came."

A conduit for cultural connection

In the early days of her business, Ms Le was often mistaken for Chineseby her Australian customers.

"But then, when they get to know us and all the food that we serve, and they know more about all the Vietnamese dishes, they actually want to try different dishes," she says.

Food is a great way to learn about and appreciate new cultures, says Dr Nguyen Austen.

"Studies of social cohesion from the Scanlon Institute show that … 71 per cent [of Australians] from the last study feel welcoming towards immigrant culture, whereas the politics [and Australian media] might appear to show differently," she says.

After trying her food and learning about Vietnamese culture, some of Ms Le's customers have travelled to Vietnam.

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"They [customers] had a family trip and they came and asked us 'Where should we go?' or 'What area should we stay [in]?'"

When she opened her business, Ms Le was the only person who sold bánh mì, but has since seen at least five other local businesses start selling the sandwich.

Regional demand

The demand for bánh mì extends to regional Australia, with country dwellers enjoying another option to the standard fish and chip shop.

Van Thai Vien Nguyen opened his restaurant in Alice Springs earlier this year, after emigrating from Vietnam.

After seeing the lack of dining options in the town, and craving a bánh mì himself, Mr Nguyen decided to open a bánh mì shop.

Although the Vietnamese community was small, he knew bánh mì would be popular.

"We are happy to explain to them why [a bánh mì is] like this, why we use pate and things like that," Mr Nguyen says.

Joseph Than has also seen the regional palette expand over the years.

His family ran a bakery shop in north-west Newcastle when he was growing up, but they only sold salad rolls.

When he moved to Tamworth in 2022, he wanted to bring something new to the town.

None of the locals were familiar with bánh mì, but Mr Than took a gamble and opened up his shop.

"[Now] we get people from Narrabri, Gunnedah, Armidale and even Newcastle. They come up here to support me, which is really great."

'Watercooler effect'

Queuing to buy a bánh mì can have other benefits. Dr Nguyen Austen calls it "the water cooler effect".

"People stand in line [waiting for bánh mì] and they have an interaction now, especially post-COVID," she says.

Jia-Yen Lee witnessed this effect when she and her partner, Thi Le, opened a bánh mì pop-up bar during the COVID-19 lockdown in Melbourne in 2020.

"We were like, 'We need to introduce something a bit more vibrant to the street.'"

With a little hibachi on their front bench, they started barbecuing meat.

Lines of hungry punters gathered, transforming the street into a "party zone", says Ms Lee.

"[It was] camaraderie at a time when you weren't meant to be socialising with each other."

The price of authenticity

The bánh mì's low cost is central to Vietnamese cuisine, says Dr Nguyen Austen.

"The Vietnamese have always been able to produce high-quality flavours for less, and that's [due] to the culture of poverty and living under colonialism.

"We kind of make the best of whatever we've got."

While its historically low cost for the high-quality product is part of the popularity of the bánh mì, it can be limiting for modern Vietnamese restaurants.

Jasmine Dinh worries that raising her prices will alienate her client base. They currently sell for between $7 and $9 each.

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"I think over time some places do deserve that price increase, but it's just so ingrained in the culture now," says Ms Dinh.

"I ordered a kebab the other day from the food court, and it was $14 … If you compare it to bánh mì, every ingredient is pretty much handmade."

Melbourne bánh mì bar Ca Com received criticism online from customers for selling their sandwiches for between $16 and $17.

The bar founders responded on social media, dismissing the idea that a bánh mì should be cheap in order to be authentic.

They said this idea reduced the ingenuity of Asian cuisine and the labour of Asian chefs to a "second-class status".

Dr Nguyen Austen says there's a simple way to tell if what you've been served is an authentic bánh mì.

"Any bánh mì that doesn't leave you feeling satiated, like you could go and work the field for hours, is probably not a real bánh mì."