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National French Week 2022: Food From the French-Speaking World

Jon Shee, World Language Department Chair

For the past two decades, the St. Luke’s French department has coordinated a weeklong celebration of National French Week. This year’s theme was "la nourriture du monde francophone," food from the French-speaking world. 
 
Throughout the week, M. Shee, M. Downey, Mme. Sarrazin, and Mlle. Briggs, along with many student leaders, engaged the community in activities to celebrate the beauty of the French language and the culture of the Francophone world. 
 
In addition to activities, Flik Dining Services developed a fantastic, international menu for each day. Students and faculty alike were dazzled by the delicious food, all inspired by French-speaking countries from all over the world.  
 
Check out some of the highlights of National French Week 2022 below. Vive le français!
 

Stinky Cheese Guessing Game

Students used their sense of smell to identify nine "stinky cheeses" from the French-speaking world. Those who succeeded in identifying the cheeses, curated by Mlle Briggs, were awarded prizes. 
 
French Week-Belgian chocolatier
Belgian Chocolate Cooking Demo and Tasting

Chef Benoît, a professional chocolatier from BE Chocolate in Fairfield, hosted live chocolate cooking demonstrations in French during all three lunch periods. Mme Sarrazin translated the presentation live and created a fantastic chocolate info-board and interactive game for students. Students and faculty enjoyed tasting the fresh ganache as well as other Belgian treats. 

French Week_Course des serveuses
Cafe Server Race

Students and faculty competed in the festive annual French event known as “Course des Serveuses et Garçons de Café” or the "Café Server Race." Participants raced to see who could carry a bottle of sparkling water and a glass on a tray with one hand behind their back the fastest – all without anything tipping over! 


Food-Ordering Workshop (Café Dialogue)

A corner of the Forese Fireplace Commons was transformed into a small version of "Café Luca." During lunch, Upper School French students "served" Café guests lessons on the basics of ordering food in French – a useful skill to use in one of the 29 French-speaking countries! Student leaders Jack Winalski ’25, Reese Kubick '25, Ava Mortamais '24, McLain Boege '24, Izzy Levi '24, and Nicolas Rojo '24 spoke beautiful French as they engaged students and passersby in conversation.
 

Chasse Aux Trésors (Scavenger Hunt)
The Upper School Student Council and Coach Fred facilitated a food-inspired scavenger hunt, where teams searched campus for images of food from the francophone world. After finding a photo, teams took selfies with the photos to earn points.  The teams had until the end of lunch to see who could find the most photos.

Bobby Somaya '26 fearlessly manned the booth during Middle School lunch as swarms of excited students ran to show him their findings. Macy Millones '23 and the Upper School Student Council coordinated the event for the Upper School.
 
Other National French Week events included a food-related trivia contest and a game where students had to guess the number of popsicle sticks that comprised a custom-made Eiffel Tower, sponsored by the Middle School Student Council and Ms. Dowling, St. Luke’s Middle School art teacher.
 
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St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.