Impossible isn’t French

It was our plan to travel south, cross the Pyrenees to the “Land of the Rabbits”. But with so much to see in the “City of Love", we decided to stay for one more night. Neither of us wanted to leave Paris; we wanted to stay on and live the French life.

As luck would have it, we were celebrating two birthdays and throwing a French-inspired birthday party was an unprecedented and brilliant way to go. And so, we gathered in the garden and created an intention to live the French life by hosting a fabuleux French soiree or a fabulous French party!

At first, we planned to build the soiree around three elements: French music, champagne and French cheeses. But we soon learnt that there was more to a party than that. There are eleven basic elements that need to come together to make a party work. We picked the elements we liked and added some of our own.

The elements were creating an intention, selecting a theme, developing the context, extending invitations, gathering people, generating playlists, rustling up food, mixing cocktails, integrating surprises, pulling things together and presenting the party (welcome remarks, setting context, closing remarks).

We were clear about our intention and we chose a romantic French song titled Parlez-moi d'amour (Speak to Me of Love) for our inspiration. Now, France and love had become our theme and context. We selected Spotify’s French vintage music playlist and we invited 15 friends and family.

We did not have time for a stylish invitation, but the words in the invitation were smooth. The invitation was extended and the RSVPs were received via WhatsApp.

Now to the heart of the party – food and cocktails. Since this was an after-dinner soiree, we anchored the soiree by pairing French music with champagne and cheese.

There are five different types of champagne: vintage, non-vintage, blanc de blancs, brut and rose. And AR Lenoble (no rose), Krug (all), Moet & Chandon (vintage), Salon (blanc de blancs), Veuve Clicquot (vintage, brut ), Louis Roederer (no blanc de blancs), Perrier Jouet (non-vintage, brut) and Bollinger (non-vintage, brut) are some of the brands.

Short on knowledge and long on curiosity, I went to Tong Woh in PJ Newtown to shop for champagne. After looking at the champagne aisle, I asked Wong for his help. I shared the party elements and he recommended the Philipponnat, Royal Reserve Brut. I went with his choice.

The Royal Reserve Brut is a dry, non-vintage champagne, which is the best expression of the House of Philipponnat. This is a family-owned business with five-hundred years of history and tradition.

With the champagne under my belt, I proceeded to the cheese. Again, the questions of what and where arose. There are four types of cheeses: soft (Brie), hard (Gruyere), goat (Sainte-Maure) and blue (Bleu dÁuvergne).

And a tip for a good cheese board is to use three to five cheeses and to use different cheeses for different taste and texture. Since we were going French, I had to find a mix of blue, goat, soft and hard French cheeses.   

The D’ Artisan in Kuala Lumpur recommend pairing the champagne with Gruyere (Swiss), Toscano (Italian) and Brie de Mauve (French). But they were out of Brie. So, I tried my luck with Jaya Supermarket that is in my backyard.

Jaya had a good selection of cheeses; among the French cheeses were the Petite Brie (creamy, mild), Brie au Bleu (soft, creamy) and Petit Camembert (soft, mild). I bought three Brie, breaking the rule of using different cheeses for different taste and texture. Brie is a soft cheese and a cheese tray with just three Brie would taste one-dimensional.

But there was another element that could make the cheese sing and that was a fruit spread. The spread we chose was a St. Dalfour mango and passion from Marmande, France. Just like grapes, fruit spreads add sweetness and colour to the cheese platter.

We added another element to make the cheese shine - caviar. Caviar is fish roe or unfertilized eggs of wild sturgeon (non-shark). It is fishy and salty and it bursts with flavour. Caviar is selected based on colour, flavour, texture and age. The best caviars come from larger, older eggs with lighter colour and they come mostly from Iran and Russia.

Jaya also sold lumpfish caviar, which comes from Germany. Lumpfish eggs are technically not caviar because they come from lumpfish and not from wild sturgeon. Lumpfish is considered to be the “off-brand” of caviar. Its eggs are soft and dark and they pair well with sour cream and crackers. Compared to Iranian Beluga caviar that costs RM1,200 for 50g, lumpfish "caviar" costs RM25 for 20g.

The other party element to incorporate was a surprise. The first surprise was the French love theme and context and the second surprise was the creative expression of that vision. And to add jest, we planned to present each birthday babe with a baton or baguette.

With all the elements (intention, context, theme, invitation, people, playlist, food, drinks, surprise and presenting the party) in place, we pulled the soiree together.

When the guests were seated, we shared our French inspiration and welcomed them to the “City of Lights”, “City of Love” - and Paris. With the context complete and with L-O-V-E, in French, playing, the tenor and tone for the soiree was set.

The next morning as I lay on my divan and sipped black tea with French vanilla, I reflected on the goings-on of the night before. Somethings worked and somethings did not.

The flow from one element to another, could have been smooth; the music could have kicked-in on cue; the make-believe maître d’ nailed the accent but blew the attributes; the stage for champagne, chilled ice buckets and frosted flutes, was not set; finally, the closing remarks were late and the remarks were poorly delivered.

But if I put my training and discerning eye aside, the soiree was a success. The connoisseurs of good living present at the soiree, told me so. There are many elements that make-up a party, but the elements that floated our boat were intention, context, theme, champagne, cheese and people.

To conclude, what I enjoyed most in this “My Scooter Sunday” was shopping for the French elements, setting up the stage for France and soaking up the joy that flowed effusively from our make-believe French guests.

Impossible is not French. Here’s to a state of health, happiness and prosperity! Bonne Sante!

Scootin’ off for now.