Workshop: Elements of French culture, French cooking and the way French people eat.
Problem:
As a French teacher, one of the topics you have to deal with is “French food” and along with
it you usually have to answer questions about frog’s legs, wine, cheese, baguette, French fries
and so on. This is an important topic as the so-called “French diet” is usually presented as a
good one in the sense that it proves to be healthy as opposed to many other countries and it is
of course part of the curriculum and we assume it is an essential part of French culture. Still,
if I leave vocabulary, grammar and communication skills apart, how am I going to introduce
my students to the cultural notions of French food without falling into the traps of
stereotypes?
This question was asked me by a colleague one day at school and it did not look so difficult to
answer at that time. To quote her: “Would you mind preparing an interdisciplinary
course/lesson with me about French food? You‘d just have to present French food!”
I was left stunned because I had never thought I would not be able to answer this simple
question. Thinking about it, I was left with my own questioning: What shall I use?
The usual stereotypes, the socio-economical complexity of French society, my own
experience as a French man in France and as a foreigner in Slovenia, what is the specific
relationship we French people have with food and eating…
I soon decided to include the whole of these issues provided I could get an interesting
scientific background to back- up everything and support my presentation.
The result of my question is the plan you are going to read. It is not perfect but it provides you
with elements and framework which are flexible (you can adapt to your group of students)
and transferable (you can adapt it to any other culture/language).
Goals:
They are varied and you can choose between different goals according to the level of your
students and the purpose of your class.
1. Your students are French learners (primary school or high school): the whole
workshop should be conducted in French, with recipes printed in French and oral
instructions/help in French. Ask your students to speak French as well. There is a
strong emphasis on language and culture in a concrete/practical situation.
2. Your students are not French learners but this could be part of the English class as an
interdisciplinary work. Then you may emphasize English language and French culture.
3. The workshop is meant to be a short presentation of the French culture through
cooking and your learners don’t master English enough: you will conduct the class in
Slovene. Your students get the recipes in French and Slovene.
The main goal of this workshop is to prepare, taste and comment a French dish whether you
do it in French, English or Slovene. Ultimately, the main emphasis is on pleasure: the pleasure
to cook and prepare something together, the pleasure to smell the flavour of the dish and
exchange ideas, ask questions and compare French and Slovene food.
Think about how/what/why/when/where we eat?
Length:
It is highly improbable that you will be able to carry-out this activity in 1 school hour. I
suggest at least 2 hours and if you can afford it, 3 hours. It does take time to prepare a dish,
wait for it to be ready, eat and then clean everything! Not to mention talking about the French
diet.
Number of students:
Between 2 and 15.
Location:
Make sure the kitchen where the workshop takes place is fully supplied with everything you
need. Make sure your students have enough room to be able to work carefully.
Ingredients:
Some schools are going to provide you with all you need, otherwise your students will bring
the ingredients (in this case, make sure they have been told early enough).
Recipes:
See recipes 1 and 2 at the end of this document: they are only an indication of what you may
do. They have been tested several times so they can be used for this workshop.
Profile of the foreign teacher for the activity:
You are not necessarily a 3 star chef but you are definitely interested in cooking and enjoy
food. You know a few things about your home recipes and you do possess some abilities such
as making the difference between salt and pepper.
You master your mother tongue, can say a few things in English and maybe can talk bits of
Slovene (it all depends on your group).
Who does what?
The aim of the activity is to make your students active so they will do everything themselves.
Your role as a teacher is not to cook for them but have them cook for themselves. You will
help if needed (they might not know some tricks like how to cut an onion or handle some
utensils) but they have to do everything from preparing the dish to wash the dishes (cooking
includes many ungrateful tasks!). You are the chef in the restaurant!
Team-teaching?
If you work with your students, you may carry-out the activity alone (though it would not be
a bad idea to include the housekeeping/“gospodinjstvo” teacher in the process). If the class is
conducted in a school you don’t know then it is compulsory to work hand in hand with that
teacher in an inter-personal dialogue. He/she will introduce you to the students and make sure
things work smoothly, he/she will ask you questions and motivate the students to ask you
questions.
You have to meet with your colleague early enough to define the various goals of the class
and the way you are going to work with each other.
Let’s cook:
Step1: get ready
(Introduce yourself or have yourself introduced by your colleague if the students don’t know
you.)
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All your students should wash their hands as a start and make sure the tables/surfaces
are clean and ready to be used (remind them this is very important!!!).
Give them the recipes and they have to find the ingredients in the kitchen.
Have them find the utensils they will have to use.
Explain what this dish is, where it comes from. Mention anything interesting!!!!
Make sure nobody is allergic to some of the ingredients or suffer from any medical
conditions. If so then remove the ingredient if possible.
Remind them to manipulate things carefully to avoid any cuts, burns, …
Step 2: cook
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Divide your group in smaller groups so that everybody is busy doing something. If
some of your students don’t do anything then they will get bored and they will start
disturbing the class. If you see that some of them have already finished their tasks,
find a way to get them busy (cleaning?).
Each group prepare a small part of the dish: follow recipes 1 and 2.
It is essential to coordinate things so that everything is clean and students are ready to
follow step 3.
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Step 3: discussion and the powerpoint presentation
The following powerpoint presentation is absolutely not compulsory to your workshop. Some
groups are going to more active than others and bring in questions you will have to answer
and this going to take the 30 minutes you have to wait for the dish being cooked. However,
the powerpoint could/should be used separately to achieve other interesting goals.
To start the discussion, ask questions like:
What do you know about French food?
Do you think there are differences between the way French and Slovene people eat? Why?
Have you ever tried any French specialities?
As mentioned earlier, it is impossible to simplify this topic and bring definite answers to some
of the questions you will ask or will be asked but you might bring in scientific elements in the
topic: for example, there is a huge difference between the way people eat in the region of
Bordeaux and in Normandy in France and the result is a higher life expectancy in the former
one.
Your students will return the questions to you and you might comment about your tastes and
what you think about Slovene food (talk about your own experience as a foreigner, funny
experiences…)
The ultimate question you are going to ask your students is: “How many among you did have
breakfast this morning?”
In most cases 90% of the class will answer something like: “I did not have any breakfast this
morning because I start school at 7.10 and I don’t have time”
This is in my opinion the best starting point to discuss cultural differences between Slovenia
and France if we deal about how/what/when people eat? The school system and the socioprofessional organisation of society influence the way we eat.
About the powerpoint presentation:
I am going to comment each slide so that there is no misunderstanding over the meaning of
pictures or words. These comments are aimed at teachers interested in using this document or
improve it. The aim of the presentation is not to show what French food is but what it might
look like in some instances and mostly what is the relationship the French have with food.
There is no better base to start with as the school routines in France and in Slovenia because
students are usually interested in it and it says a lot in terms of cultural differences.
Ratatouille? As a teacher, explain
what the dish is and the connection
between the dish and the movie.
Les repas en France/Meals in
France
Miam miam !
Many students have seen the movie
so this is a good picture to start with
plus it relates to notion of pleasure
and most of all the idea that “anyone
can cook”.
Ratatouille (ratatuj):
Le petit-déjeuner/ Breakfast
Right: elements of breakfast. You
may say the majority of French
people will have a sweet breakfast
(no ham or cheese usually).
Left: French vocabulary about
breakfast.
Structure: déjeuner/Lunch
dîner/dinner
Don’t forget: mention the way the
school system usually works in
France (8.30-12.30/14.00-17.00) and
emphasize the need and possibility
for a good breakfast in the morning.
Stress: this could be for lunch or
dinner but definitely in a restaurant.
For French learners: do they
understand the meaning of the
expressions?
Comment?: some high-class
restaurants in France may propose
such a poetical phrasing for their
meals that even an average French
person would not be able to
understand it.
L’entrée/ Starters
Le plat principal/ Main course
Comment: link this to school. In
many family meals, this is what it
would look like but this is also what
you could get at school as a starter.
The aim is not to show what French
food is, but again stress what a
student could get as a main course in
a regular French school or in a
restaurant.
Ask your students: is it different from
a main course in Slovenia? How?