Novelty and Quarantine

If it weren’t for Covid, I probably wouldn’t have wound up in a French cooking class on Zoom, hosted by a Canadian woman living in Nice, France, teaching us to make French onion soup and chocolate Mousse from scratch, with an actual Sommelier standing by sharing her list of just-right wine pairings.

Though my kitchen is a wreck, I would call this a solid Covid win - excellent quarantine fun.

My sister gave me the class as an early Christmas gift. Her friend Rosa owns a cooking company in Nice called Le Petite Farcis which translated to English means, the little stuffed, which made no sense to me until my sister explained that Nicoise cuisine is all about stuffing things with other things, like vegetables and whatnot.

Imagine an oily, salty focaccia style-bread with caramelized onions and olives eaten right from the little brown bag on this beach and you’ll get a feel for Nice and its cuisine. When we’re not in quarantine Rosa gives street food tours too.

But because Paris was on the menu today we made French onion soup which historically was a workingman’s lunch and/or a hangover cure.

We started with an entire stick of butter.

Ever wonder why French food tastes so good? Butter. That and the freshest ingredients, which is a claim you hear 100 times a day in American restaurant advertising, but it’s rarely true and we know it. When Colonel Sanders can say “only the freshest ingredients” with a straight face, you know the concept is pretty bankrupt.

But the French know the key to great food is fresh ingredients. And butter. Period.

So while I was proud of my mise en place, my ingredients were way more strip-mall Target than French food market. Next time I’ll make the stock from scratch.

Also Rosa’s friend Vik, the wine guru, shared the following advice. “Don’t cook with wine you don’t care to drink. Why flavor your food with a flavor you don’t like?”

Oh and that champagne you’ve been saving, she added. Non-vintage Champagne doesn’t keep. It’s not designed to. Chill it. Pop it and drink it now.

God, I love these women.

Not only did I learn at least five new kitchen tricks, but I gave my brain a little novelty bath. Novelty is one of six basic needs common to human beings. Our brains crave novelty and reward us with feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. That’s why doing something new feels good and fun.

Perhaps you’ve been locked in your house for 9 months with the same people, doing the same things every day and you’re losing your mind. Why not do something like take a French cooking class on zoom. You’d be surprised at how good it feels.

Rosa has more classes coming up and if you ever get to Nice, which you totally should, look her up.