"What are you doing in Paris?"
is the question people keep bombarding me with, ever since I set foot in this city of lights. I wish I have a concrete and even inspiring answers to give, but I don't.
Coming to Paris is one of the most random, and derailing even, decisions I have made in my life, it was meant to be just a short escape, but after three years, I still find myself here, not quite ready to leave just yet.
So I created L'étranger à Table, as a pathway to make sense of my stay, to interview l'étranger who I come across in this city, asking them to cook a dish from their own country that means the most to them.
By recreating that dish, that taste embedded in their memories, we get a rare glimpse of their most intimate thoughts and emotions, and hopefully something delicious to eat at the end!
About
So Ling Yan
Freelance Jounalist and Translator
「你來巴黎做甚麼？」
這是我在這邊最常被問到的問題。每次都害我費煞思量，因為我自己也不知道。我多希望能給出一個實際，甚至是具啟發性的答案，但更多時候，只能說我來巴黎，是因為⋯⋯我可以，然後話題就好像有點無以為繼。
來巴黎是我人生最隨性的一個決定，離開了原先的人生軌跡，本來以為只是短暫的逃離，但三年後的今天，我還在這裡，找尋我留下來的原因。
因此我發起了L'étranger à Table，透過採集巴黎異鄉人的故事，嘗試理解自身的處境。每一位受訪者也會煮一道家鄉菜：一道對他們別具深意菜色。
在異鄉重構家鄉菜，煮出回憶中的味道，從中分享他們最個人的思緒和情感，道出活在巴黎幾許掙扎，慶幸再苦也有熟悉的味道告慰。
