NHS French Students Enter The Kitchen To Create Crepes

By Eliza Hallabeck

Students in French 2 Honors courses experienced French cuisine on Monday, February 1, either with the help of NHS culinary teacher Stephen OShana or with some influence from Julia Child.

“You want to make sure your pan stays hot,” said Mr OShana as he demonstrated to one group of French 2 students how to make crepes in a frying pan.

In the school’s library as students made crepes, other students watched the 2009 movie Julie & Julia, which followed the story of American Chef Julia Child, co-author of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and later a television host of The French Chef, and Julia Powell, who wrote a blog following herself as she cooked her way through 524 of Ms Child’s recipes.

The day’s course was in celebration of “La Chandeleur,” according to NHS Italian and French teacher Laura Batistti. “La Chandeleur” is the French celebration of Candlemas, marking 40 days after Christmas. According to a PowerPoint presentation, the “La Chandeleur” ritual of families making crepes stemmed from a belief that wheat would grow better the following year.

NHS ninth grader Aiden Pelisson said his crepe tasted good, “but I couldn’t flip it right.”

Another ninth grader, Sam Steimle, said she had made crepes once before, and added the experience on Monday was a nice way to connect to French culture.

Mr OShana prepared the batter for the event, and students took their turn placing a full spoonful of batter onto a hot frying pan, rotating the pan around, flipping the crepe and loading them with fillings.