After winning a contest sponsored by the university's French Club, four students had their homemade desserts showcased in a campus dining hall.
By Sarah Mulnick ’17
Four students got to see the desserts they created during the Elon University French Club’s inaugural French Fête featured at Lakeside Dining Hall on Nov. 13.
Zachary Wellman, Laura Poe, Natalie Brown and Clare Farrow competed in the Nov. 1 contest. Wellman and Poe teamed up to prepare a chocolate French silk pie, while Brown and Farrow worked together to cook a raspberry clafoutis with ganache drizzle.
Initially, contest organizers only planned to make one dish available in Lakeside, but judges decided both were worthy of the honor. The desserts were part of the International Station in the dining hall. Both teams also won Irazu gift cards.
Two French professors, Sophie Adamson and Olivia Choplin, as well as Bill Burress of the Isabella Cannon International Center, a dining services representative and Steve Caldwell from Campus Kitchens judged the dishes.
Madeline Monaco, the publicity chair for French Club, credits the dining hall’s executive chef, Pinky Varghese, for making the prize possible. Varghese will be modify the original recipes in order to allow the rest of the student body to enjoy the taste of France and French cuisine.
“It really is a good way to incorporate both the academic side and the dining services at this school,” Monaco said. “[The event is] crossing boundaries and educating people about French cuisine and how it is a major aspect of their culture.”
The fête happened on the cusp of National French Week, which ran Nov. 5-11 and featured more events hosted by the French Club. The club hopes the events will serve to raise awareness about the diversity of French culture and the possibilities for its presence on Elon’s campus.
“There is a lot of French culture that people don’t know about,” Monaco said, “And [there are] definitely a lot of things that the club wants to show the community.”
The fête, Monaco added, accomplished that goal.
“[It was] bringing ‘French’ to campus, but also bringing campus to France in a lot of ways, too,” she said.
For more information about French Club and its upcoming events, “like” the club on its Facebook page.