(North Bergen—November 7, 2016) French II classes at High Tech hosted their annual café Nuit Étoilée (Starry Night), offering a Francophile experience of traditional music, French scenery, and lots of cuisines and desserts, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech High School.
The French classes broke up into booths that characterized the feel of Paris, Provence, Brittany, Normandy, Alsace, Lorraine, Aquitaine, and Champagne-Ardenne, selling cuisine typical of that area. Each class boasted a manager of its own who oversaw the setting, decorations, motifs, music, and other responsibilities. Also, students had to explore not only the culinary features of these regions, but the historic and cultural aspects of them. Students wrote postcards sent from areas that they explored as well, detailing attractions and meals of which they partook and leaving these beautifully crafted cards on the tables for guests to read while having a crepe or another meal of their choice.
“What sets this year apart [from other years], though, is that, not only did different classes put it on, but the classes were mixed and separated into groups,” says Andrea de Leon, a resident of Jersey City and manager of one of the cafes. “People had to work with people they may have never even seen before.”
Another sophomore, Diana Concepcion, notes that “cuisine has always been influenced on the culture and history of people. Here at High Tech we have a tradition of organizing Nuit Étoilée as a part of our curriculum.”
Nuit Étoilée served as the sophomores’ marking period project, an extension of the food unit they studied in class. The café atmosphere provided an opportunity to bake, taste, and experience the foods about which they had learned. This food experience will continue later with a visit to a French restaurant, paid for by the profits of Nuit Étoilée.
