THE weather was stifling that Sunday afternoon. Bear in mind that June is a summer month in Paris. In a small side street off the Champs-Elysées—packed as it is with tourists—dozens of Malay faces emerged from a Chinese restaurant. They had just feasted upon a dish commonly available in Jakarta: lightly fried water spinach in crab sauce. Having it in France, though, turned it into a prestigious occasion.

There was still more