The Upper School Blanke Room was recently transformed into a French cafe with young French-speaking students milling about tasting delicious French dishes and desserts, socializing, and answering trivia questions related to French food and culture. The event? The Fête de la Gastronomie, now in its eighth year, is a project designed by the World Languages department as an international celebration of French cuisine and food culture.
The fête is a fun way to connect what students learn in the classroom to the world around them through sensory and festive experiences. Throughout the day, Upper School French classes and eighth-grade French students gathered to share what they’ve learned about food cultures from all over the Francophone world through posters and other projects. They sampled many student-made desserts and dishes from France and other French-speaking regions. Juries of Upper School faculty and staff awarded prizes for best presentation, most delicious, most audacious dessert, and best overall dessert. One session’s winners included a spring roll, a coffee cream puff, a chocolate macaron, and an apple tart.
Upper School World Language Teacher Steven Crumb shared, «Each level of class does a unit on food, and depending on the level, they have a different focus. Ninth-graders create illustrative recipes and cook foods from all over the French-speaking world, including Africa and other parts of Europe. More advanced students are looking at food innovations like the history of pasteurization, and our AP French students conduct food debates on topics such as GMOs, famine response, future food sources, and whether we should eat less meat. The culmination is preparing these French foods and is designed to be fun, engaging, and a great way to share and connect with students in other classes.»
Middle & Upper School French Teacher Kimberly Ady was excited to open this experience to her eighth-grade French students. «The eighth graders have been immersed in Bon Appétit, our food unit, where they learn about different foods and make food comparisons between France, America, and Rwanda. It was exciting to see them at the event, read the posters, connect with Upper Schoolers, try a new food, or learn something from the Kahoot quiz. Setting time aside for fun is always important,» she said.
Upper School English Teacher and Fête de la Gastronomie Judge Dan Sadicario had the challenging task of eating delicious French food after eating a full lunch and an American dessert in the cafeteria. «All of the dishes were great and had interesting tasting notes, like coffee into a cream puff and caramel into a macaron. I’m very impressed with these teenagers’ cooking skills,» he said.
Students always appreciate the opportunity to eat and like preparing for the fête. Abhinav Katyal ’25 and his classmate made French chocolate truffles with dark chocolate on the inside and a dusting of unsweetened cocoa on the outside. He said, «The project is unique and different from our regular curriculum and ties into what we’re learning. It’s also a good way to showcase our knowledge and some grammar structures we’ve been learning.»
Rose Sabalvaro ’26 and her classmate made traditional French madeleines with orange zest. She said, «It’s a meaningful way to connect with French culture and foods but also really fun because you get to eat!»
Thank you, students, for once again making the Fête de la Gastronomie a delightful intersection of education, culture, and gastronomy at its finest!