Dear GIS Families,

The French Department were delighted to team up with the Pastry Institute St Honoré this term to arrange a special baking class conducted entirely in French for all Year 8 French students. Not only did they leave the session with delicious cupcakes, but they listened to and used French outside of the classroom within a real context. In addition to improving their culinary skills, our students became bilingual journalists for the day. Here is one of their reports and interviews with the French chef.

Recently, the French faculty of my school has organized a French trip for all year 8 students who learn French. The motives underlying this trip were to have a fun experience in a French environment to improve our French listening and speaking skills. To achieve this, we were sent to a pastry institute where we would spend an exciting afternoon baking cupcakes under the lead of the French chef Fred.

We were greeted by the pleasant scent that seems to inhabit bakeries — or in this case the Pastry Institute of St. Honoré — as we arrived. Soon, after a short briefing on the activity, we were led into the room where we would prepare the cupcakes. The explanation and instructions were in French, luckily it was very visual as well. In pairs we would make seven cupcakes. The chef was very friendly and was obviously passionate about his job

While we waited for the goods to bake, we had the opportunity to interview the chef about running a pastry institute in Malaysia. This was all in French. After the interview it was time to make the cream that would top the cakes. When that was done, we enjoyed a fresh, warm, delicious cupcake that we made ourselves.

Overall, it was a very fun and memorable experience. We did not only take home delicious chocolate lava-cakes but also a lot of new French vocabulary and understanding.

Regards,
Lisa-Marie Roijen 8P

Interview with Chef Frédéric Oger by Aarushi Menon

Who taught you how to cook?
Qui vous a appris à cuisiner?
A chef in England taught me how to bake.
Un chef en Angleterre m’a appris à faire la cuisine.

What is your favourite pastry?
Quelle est votre pâtisserie préférée?
Crème brulee, because I like the texture.
La crème brulée, parce que j’aime la texture.

What kind of cuisine do you like?
Quelle cuisine aimez-vous?
I like Malaysian and Japanese food.
J’aime la cuisine Malaisienne et Japonaise.

What is your favourite Malaysian dish/food?
Quel est votre plat Malaisien préféré?
I like Nasi Lemak.
J’aime Nasi Lemak.

What do you like about Malaysia?
Qu’est-ce que vous aimez de la Malaisie?
I like the diversity of Malaysia and all the different cultures.
J’aime la diversité de la Malaisie et toutes les cultures.

How old is the institute?
Quel âge a l’Institut?
Six months.
Six mois.