Vanessa's Christmas

Before the dinner, I took her to the D’Aligre market in the 12th arrondissement in Paris where I like to shop almost every day. I know all the vendors there! I like the rawness and realness of this place and people. The vegetables, the cheese, the seafood, the coffee, it all felt so fresh and alive. It is also very affordable and accessible to anyone. Most restaurants and professional Chefs go there for their groceries.

Vanessa and her brothers Martin and Clément love to cook and they always use the best ingredients available. So I was really excited to introduce them to this market and its great products. It was a rainy day but everyone was cheerful. We walked around together and had so much fun exploring and choosing everything together. 

I like the winter and all the food we eat at this time of the year. So I loved gathering ingredients that would represent Christmas and winter. The seafood was super fresh so we got oysters, lobsters, a beautiful capon (Chapon in French), ceps and wild mushrooms, cheese, pumpkins and so many other things. 

The food was full on, Vanessa’s family was all there: Lune, her daughter, Clément and Martin, her brothers, Fanette, her sister in law and close friends and colleagues. On the menu we had traditional Christmas dishes such as oysters and capon, and other dishes with my personal touch such as steamed fish with Thai spicy sauce, raw fish with sesame, wasabi sauce, and coconut flan in the pumpkins (see the recipe below).

Since I am Thai and I didn’t grow up with this tradition, I actually never celebrated Christmas. I use this day to travel since nobody flies on that day! Christmas day and the idea of finding that gift under the Christmas tree doesn’t really appeal to me. My job is about celebration, so I consider that everyday is a celebration, just like Christmas. However, I do understand that Christmas is a very important tradition for the West. Since they don’t live together as a family, it’s important for people in the West to get together in special moments like Christmas. In Thailand and in the East, people often still live together and eat together regularly, so they don’t need those kinds of celebrations to get together.