ICYMI, my name’s Saanya Ali and I’m the founder of SOIRÉE, a platform, newsletter, and social community dedicated to reviving the “lost art of entertaining” and making food, and the culture around it, FUN…as it should be. Whether online or in person, using tech-y consulting acronyms or excited shrieks in the kitchen, I love to learn food, love food, love food lovers, explore the connections that sharing that love can bring, and host a lot of dinner parties.

The SOIRÉE newsletter has merged with Dash by Pepper, so you’re now reading SOIRÉE x Pepper. Each week, we’ll explore basic home cooking tips, hosting how to’s, food history and science deep dives, and share some of our favorite recipes, picks to shop, and invitations to fun foodie events. I’m so happy you’re here :)

P.S. You can find SOIRÉE on our website, TikTok, and Instagram!

TLDR: French Food 101

The heart of Western cuisine—eating habits, restaurants, etiquette, gastronomy, and so much more—is incontestably, France. 

France has 639 Michelin-star restaurants. 121 of them reside in Paris. Haute cuisine was born here. As was the modern restaurant. There are nearly 100 street markets. And some of today’s most iconic dishes are rooted in humble, hearty peasant stews like coq au vin and Escoffier's more complex saucy, regal concoctions. French cuisine is qualified as a UNESCO-recognized cultural treasure—the whole city infused with history, legend, technique, and flavor. As I sit writing from a bistro in Les Halles, a now bustling neighborhood that was once called “The Belly of Paris,” renowned for the sprawling market that lived here for hundreds of years, these are the flavors and stories that inspire this letter. 

The past two weeks have been spent tucking into the culinary backdrop of the city (and my favorite childhood snacks), scouring the aisles of every hallowed and hole in wall épicerie, and questioning the complexities behind the most beloved and be-loathed French dishes. Below you’ll find the morsels that left me gobsmacked, drooling, or rapidly accosting my notes app with unintelligible bullet points to delve into later. 

The World’s Only Gourmet Chain Food Festival Is Coming to NYC Next Saturday

The LA sensation known for its chef-driven twists on iconic chain restaurant dishes is coming to Randall’s Island Park in NYC on September 21, 2024. 

The event is more than just a food festival. It’s a nostalgic playground for all ages. Highlights include:

🦞 Gourmet versions of iconic menu items

🌭 Resurrected discontinued fan favorite chain dishes

🥡 Brand new bites from beloved chain restaurants

🍔Fully-immersive restaurant build outs and photo ops

🍹Cocktails from some of the best mixologists

…and so much more!

Each chain will showcase a one-of-a-kind interactive pop-up restaurant, allowing fans to experience their favorite chains in new and elevated ways. 

Tasting tickets, which start at $99.99, include 12+ unique gourmet bites and are on sale now. Ticket are selling fast - don’t miss out!

BUY YOUR TICKET HERE NOW!

How To Make an Omelet…the French Way

No one makes an omelet quite like the French. Somehow they’ve hacked the parameters of what eggs can do, making the simplest of breakfast dishes both aesthetically stunning with its delicate, yellow, smooth exterior and perfectly custardy on the inside. 

I made it my mission to try to master the art while here. This is what I learned—

Whisk the eggs really well

To ensure that smooth texture on the outside and soft and creamy interior, it's vital that you truly whisk (not attack with a spare fork) your eggs. Use 2 or 3 at a time to keep the ratio of each omelet consistent and mix until no streaks are visible. The yolk and white should be entirely blended.

Use your non-stickiest of pans

Don’t hate me, but I am not a practicing member of the non-stick fan club. (Maybe I just haven’t found the right one. I’ve heard great things about the Made In, Caraway, and Great Jones ones, so they’re high on my list to try next!) But when it comes to making a perfect omelet, the pan really matters. Heat your nonstick pan slowly with just enough butter (good butter) to coat. This will make it so your eggs don’t stick or crisp, turning speckled and brown. 

Low and slow

Pour the beaten eggs into your pan over medium-low heat. THIS IS KEY! Then immediately start moving the pan and stirring the eggs with a soft spatula. It will almost feel like you’re making scrambled eggs, but these curds that you’re creating are what will become the creamy, runny, eggy interior. 

Timing is everything

Once these curds just start to set, you’ll start shaping your masterpiece. The inside should still be soft, but to ensure extra creamy richness, drop a small piece of cold butter into the middle. It will melt as you carefully tilt the pan and fold the edges in towards the center.

It’s the time of the season

This may be polarizing, but to really nail a good French omelet, all seasoning should come at the end. Salting too early can result in rubbery, watery eggs, so wait until you’re just about to fold to toss in a big of salt, pepper, and maybe a sprinkle of herbs de Provence. (I prefer fresh herbs on top like chives or tarragon for a bit of brightness).

The Birth of the Modern Restaurant

POV: It’s 18th century Paris. The promenades are filled with the most elegant fashions by day and by the noxious fumes of heaping piles of rubbish by night. Somehow this is where the concept of the modern day restaurant was born. 

A quick TLDR for context—before the French Revolution, food in France was all a who’s who. If you knew the right people, you ate the right food. Nobles dined in opulence and everyone else found their sustenance from street vendors or local inns with dining rooms.

Everything changed when the Revolution toppled the aristocracy. All of a sudden, the former private chefs of the nobility were out of work. Many of them made a swift professional shift to what were called “marchands de vin”—wine merchants and street vendors who scavenged leftover ingredients and then turned these scraps into easy meals for the citizens of Paris. Later, they even started to open public dining rooms called “restaurants”—from the French word “restaurer,” (to restore). 

This is where the garbage men come in.

Because these chefs couldn’t afford to spend all of their time looking for food scraps, especially en mass. The solution? Tap the city's garbage collectors or “chiffonniers.” These garbage men would salvage any discarded meat, vegetables, and spices from the streets and then sell them to these new restaurant owners. The innovative chefs then turned these modest ingredients into gourmet fare, revolutionizing the way people ate.

So many of the staples of modern dining that we take for granted today were born during this time of innovation like the printed menu, à la carte dining, and the concept of a waiter serving individuals. 

Mastering the basic art of French cooking

The one word on the tip of everyone’s tongue when describing French cuisine is “rich” (non-derogatory). Not too rich. But rather, a depth of flavor and sensory complexity despite the use of rather basic ingredients. 

Butter

Surprising to absolutely no one, a big part of this is due to the butter. Butter is an essential component of most French dishes and true French butter stands out for its higher fat content (82% compared to American butter's 80%). That 2% might seem negligible, but it is accountable for the silkier texture and richer flavor of French dishes, sauces, pastries, and desserts. Last year I wrote an Ode to French Butter. 

Crème Fraîche

Another core staple in French cuisine is crème fraîche, a thick, tangy cream with a sumptuous mouthfeel. Though it looks a bit like sour cream, crème fraîche can actually be used when cooking and won’t curdle, so it’s often added to soups and sauces for an added smooth creaminess. The versatility of its thick flavor also makes it an easy way to balance extra acidity when cooking. 

Flavors

Truffles and Herbs de Provence (a blend of thyme, rosemary, oregano, and sometimes lavender) are two other staples that you’ll find in many French recipes that contribute to the “richness” factor. All that being said, however, French cooking emphasizes balance and simplicity. Just a touch of really good ingredients will do a lot of work, so be careful not to overwhelm a dish with any one of them.

What I wish I bought

Laguiole Knives: These steak knives are iconic, they’re classically French, in every household and many restaurants, and the Bon Marché has the most beautiful color collections that are so sleek and fun and different, but I couldn’t rationalize bringing back knives and they’re definitely a “for an occasion” purchase. 

Fleur de sel: Unlike flaky sea salt (read all about it here) which is harvested by letting salt water sit in big vats until the liquid evaporates and only the salty deposits are left, fleur de sel is the rarer kind of salt that actually floats to the surface during this process. This salt is really thin and delicate and has a high moisture content. This isn’t the salt that you would chuck into a dish when cooking, but rather one to sprinkle on top as a finish since the taste is “saltier: than regular salt and has more of a minerality to it. 

Urban Nature Culture Mugs: I loved everything about the Fleux concept store, especially how it was separated into different design styles, but these mugs and two candlesticks have been itching my brain since I walked out the door. I fear I will need to go back for both next time I’m there. 

Marin Montagut: Truly anything she has ever made. I am still thinking about this tray, these glasses, and especially this scarf. 

All of the French Pharmacy products that I did come home with (and have sworn by for yearsss) are linked here!

Breaking News from the Food World

Michelin-star chefs use fungus to limit food waste

In the United States, nearly 40% of the food supply is thrown away. Combating this egregious level of food waste has been a hot button topic for decades. A recent study conducted by a team of scientists, chefs, and researchers found that ingredients that would otherwise be tossed can now be repurposed into tasty, viable meals when fermented with a particular kind of fungus...well this sounds like history doth be repeating itself (see above)? The fungus is called Neurospora intermedia. It can grow on anything from produce pulp to oat milk byproducts. You can read the full study here.

The Altoids Sours are *so* BACK

I audibly gasped when I read this headline. Altoids Sours, the tins of “curiously strong” flavored hard candies that rattled around my Jansport backpack throughout middle school are officially hitting the market once more, but under a different name. “Retro Sours” does make me feel far older than I ought to, but Iconic Candy, a company known for bringing back nostalgic classics, announced their intentions last week, so look out for the memorable collectors lemon, mango, and tangerine tins at IT’SUGAR’s around the country soon. 

See you next week!

Xx,

Saanya