#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Chinoiseries Paris

Henrike and Charlotte of Chinoiseries Paris

This is part of an ongoing series of interviews I’m doing with my favourite Chinese foodies that I follow on Instagram. Come and follow the #ChineseFoodiesofIG hashtag on Instagram and leave a comment showing your support for these talented folk!

Where are you from? Where are you really from?

Charlotte: ‘London’, it’s where people think when they hear my accent, and I lived there before Paris. I’m really from Beijing for 10 years, then moved to Kent.

Henrike: My mother is from Hong Kong (and I was born there too) and my father's German, but both are Francophiles and I was raised mostly in Shanghai, and went to school in Kent and university in Edinburgh.  I guess I just mostly think of myself as ‘Eurasian’ and ‘expat’.

What does home taste like?

C: 炸酱面 (zhajiang mian/fried noodles). It’s still the first thing I ask for when I go home (Beijing home). 

H: My mother's 佛跳牆 (Buddha Jumps Over The Wall). There's always some in the freezer at home, and she and I will often slink down into the kitchen for a cheeky little bowl as an anytime snack. 

Rice or noodles?

C: Noodles, all day every day. Nothing against rice — I like rice, but the best rice is plain rice. Noodles come in all kinds of shapes and sizes in so many broths and sauces. The possibilities are endless. 

H: Noodles

Share a food memory:

C: I think my earliest memories revolve around a dumpling folding table. Listening to all the gossip and laughter, whilst waiting with barely containable excitement for what’s to come. I recall even wanting to eat the raw dough as a small child, but then I wanted to put everything in my mouth. I had a real curiosity for how things would feel when I bit them. Good thing Chinese food is a lot about mouthfeel! 

H: A noisy, joyous dinner with the extended family at plastic-tabled seafood joints by the water's edge somewhere in Hong Kong (I don't remember where), when I was little. My cousins and I decided that the pearly mussel shells were too pretty to throw away so squirrelled them away to take home, and nearly got away with it - til my uncle noticed strange smells emanating from our pockets on the drive home.

How did you learn to cook?

C: First out of necessity, at university. Then I learnt French cooking at culinary school. But when I really want to learn something I just call mum. 

H: I honestly don't remember ever learning - I've just been cooking ever since I recall!  I keep teaching myself through a mixture of obsessive reading, sheer determination and trial & error.

The secret to Chinese cooking is:

C: I don’t think there is a secret! Be prepared before the cook starts and taste as you go along. Lots of love helps, but it’s not necessarily specific to Chinese. 

H: I think Chinese cooking is a format that lends itself much more to following your senses, and being flexible and adaptive. 

Who's your Chinese food legend?

C: Any immigrant cook, including professional ones or home cooks like my mother. For example, she managed to make my siblings and me amazing Chinese food whilst living in rural England. It’s only since I’ve started trying to cook more traditional Chinese food that I’ve realised how frustratingly difficult that can be. 

H: My mother. And A Da in Shanghai, who's been making the best 葱油饼 (scallion pancakes) in the world for over 30 years, despite being born with a crippling disability that made him a hunchback.

Dream dinner party guests:

C: My grandparents, so I could ask them everything I never got to before. 

H: I'd love to just get everyone I love into the same room, and have a huge feast with platters and platters of food.

Ultimate comfort food:

C: Noodles noodles noodles (yes, I am a broken record on this front). 

H: My mother's 汽鍋雞 (steamed pot chicken) and Cantonese steamed fish with rice and a plate of poached kailan on the side. Just thinking about it makes me feel soothed.

What does Chinese food mean to you?

C: Everything. Long answer - resilience and love. China is a country that has seen so much hardship, not to mention a massive famine, in the last century. Our food and the culture surrounding the food say to me that we have a cuisine that has survived all of that is incredible. And what an abundance there is of it!

H: Love and togetherness.  I mean, why else do we always order tables full of food to SHARE?