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French cuisine needs no translation! What's Cooking?
Francophile Cuisine Liberté,
Egalité, Fraternité (et Gastronomie)!! by Rebecca Hutchins Food and food-related activities are an important aspect of my French classroom. One of the most basic elements necessary to human life, food is charged with multiple personal, familial, and cultural symbolism. It can signify love, sharing, celebration, and pleasure as well as mere nutrition. I have found that the French are very cognizant of this symbolism. For years I have been a hopeless recipe collector—tearing delectable looking recipes out of magazines, borrowing recipes from friends, and buying cookbooks. I am in the habit of saving magazines for years if I have not had sufficient time to browse through them—just in case I have missed a recipe I might just have to try. To this day I will pore over the folders of "cut-out-from-magazines" recipes to find what I think I’m looking for. At these times my husband merely shakes his head and asks why I am such a packrat. I too ask myself the same question but I know intuitively that someday I’ll want that certain "saved" recipe. This summer I fully realized why I had kept up my packrat status. Thanks to the Upper Valley Business and Education Partnership and the Co-op Food Stores, I was able to combine my love of French history and lore and my hobby of Cuisine du Monde Francophone (French-speaking world cuisine) with designing curriculum for my students at the Frances C. Richmond Middle School in Hanover. Not only did I cull those sequestered recipes, but I also expanded my quest to the Internet and to the expert staff at the Co-op Food Stores. The end results include a booklet of select recipes, each exemplifying some aspect of French cuisine from several Francophone countries—The Antilles, Africa, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, and Tahiti as well as New Orleans in the U.S. In addition, I have put together a glossary of French cooking terms, a display at the Co-op Food Stores, and a project for my students. I also learned some interesting history concerning what is savored as "La Cuisine Française" or French Cuisine — from tales of the Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) who discovered Brie cheese in the Abbey of St. Germain-des-Près to Catherine de Medicis, future queen of Henri II, who brought Florentine cooks with her from Italy to France. Their techniques were so advanced over anything known in medieval French kitchens, this event marked a true culinary renaissance in France. I will add this fact to our study of the French Renaissance Curriculum in my eighth-grade French class. My students also study the French Revolution. After the French Revolution, in the mid 1800s, the rules of ornate classic French cuisine were simplified and equations laid down by Georges-August Escoffier. He, along with Fernand Point, is credited with establishing the roots of Nouvelle Cuisine which combines regional, fresh, less elaborate foods. I am confident that my students will have their palates awakened as a result of my externship at the Co-op. I certainly was awakened to all the special qualities of the Co-op. The Co-op Education Program is indeed a wonderful, rich program, and I am especially grateful to my mentor, Paula Gray, whose support and expertise made my externship such a rewarding experience. Look for the display and a cooking class in November to correspond with National French Week! |
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