Behind the Scenes / Celebrating Fête des Mères
Peonies in collaboration with woman-led L’arrosoir (in Paris 11)
Mothers Day here in France is right around the corner and as Chef Khanh-Ly continues her trials over our summer menu aperos and drinks, we want to recognize that mothers, like restaurants, have so much to do “behind the scenes” that is often unappreciated.
One of those little things we do a lot behind the scenes that often goes under-appreciated are our house-made sauces, so much work involved.
Sambal
Sambal is a part of everyday life in Indonesia. It’s a type of sauce that is made from different chili peppers as well as ingredients like ginger, garlic, scallions, shallots, palm sugar, lime…the list can go on and families often won’t share their secret recipes! There are more than 500 types of this sauce in Indonesia and it stays on the table for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sri, an Indonesian member of our team, says
“Eating food without sambal is like taking a shower without soap: you need sambal for your health and wellbeing!”
The Sambal you taste at The Hood Paris (and can buy online) is built on Sri’s sambal “schooling” which started with her mother and grandmother in Indonesia when she was nine years old. That also means you’re in on her family’s secret recipe! That tradition continues on here in Paris with the half-day prep just to get our fresh house Sambal ready to make.
Sriracha
Many who come to our restaurant instinctively reach for our housemade sriracha when their meals arrive at their table. That was also a mother-daughter collaboration. Khanh Ly once spent a weekend with her mom working on the sauce and they ended up adding some apples for sweetness, and with Atique (one our kitchen team mates) back in the kitchen some lime for acidity. One of the positives since the lockdown is that you can now conveniently buy that sauce to take home and bring some of our flavors to your own cooking. #thehoodparischezmoi
For Khanh Ly “Creating recipes is a gigantic part of the job: making sure your establishment is on the right track with taste, style, products, processes…it’s something that requires your attention every day.”
Part of why Khanh Ly keeps notebooks all around the restaurant and office is to capture ideas of the moment that she doesn’t want to forget.
One of those ideas is the mix of sriracha-mayo that is part of one of our Mothers Day packages. This condiment is a great reflection of French influence into a typical Vietnamese sandwich, which also calls back to Khanh Ly’s parents coming from Vietnam to Paris during the Vietnam war in the 70s.
Celebrate Mothers Day
As the weather is warming up and the lockdown is slowly easing here in France, why not celebrate by giving your mum the day off from cooking? Let us do the work: you take the credit!
We’ve got two different bundles for you to preorder, that are perfect for dining in together, or a trip out to the parks.
Sugar Mama
A bouquet of peonies from L’arrosoir (one of our neighborhood florists)
An entire signature pandon chiffon cake
1 litre of oatmilk milk tea, powered by tonka beans and cardamome
Hawt Momma
A bouquet of peonies from L’arrosoir
Crispy chicken tenders (served with a trio of sauces, including the sambal and sriracha-mayo we talked about)
Cold noodle side salad
Summer Chunky Pickles (with seasonal vegetables from Natoora)
1 litre bottle of Bloody Mary Mix (powered by sriracha)
Priced at 45€ and 60€ respectively, and can be ordered here, though we need to hear from you before June 4th to make sure we have your order ready for pickup.
Whether you pick up one of these bundles for your Mother this week or not, don’t forget to thank her for all she did over the years, even those things that might still be unknown and “behind the scenes” for you.
We know that The Hood wouldn’t exist without the mothers, and all those who help give us life, that inspired the ownership team and our staff.