Food Prep Adds Fun to French Class

In the French culinary world, trompe l'oeil is a classic cuisine trick wherein a chef deceives the eyes with their preparations. As one eats first with their eyes, the way something looks isn’t always the way it tastes, as embodied by Cédric Grolet’s “sculpted fruit” movement, the pastries available at Le Meurice in Paris or Is it Cake game show.

Upper School French teacher Frank Schaldenbrand wanted his students to create a trompe l'oeil of their own and demonstrate their understanding of using the past tense in spoken language, which they have been studying in class.

To accomplish this, he devised a project asking teams of students to gather on weekends to prepare a specific French delicacy, infuse it with an element of trompe l'oeil and record the process. In class, students shared their videos and spoke about the unique way they “trompe l'oeil’ed” their item. Food Service Manager Andrew Zubia had the delicious task of sampling their items and determining which of the tarte au citrons, les macarons and l'omelettes the students prepared was worthy of winning the grand prize: a gift card to a local French restaurant.

Students dared going salty with sugary classics, they transformed classic macarons into burgers and bagels and they prepared omelets to look like crêpes. Regardless of how the items looked, those who sampled them determined they were pretty delicious.

All who engaged in this project enjoyed the opportunity to try their hand at some French cooking while demonstrating their emerging mastery of the language.

Enjoy photos from the fun here.