The Bridgewater-Raritan High School (BRHS) French Club sponsored its first event of the year on October 1, a cooking activity celebrating the culinary culture of France. Over the course of an hour, club members learned about, baked and then ate their own profiteroles, a popular French dessert.

The meeting was hosted in Ms. Mindy Sweetwood’s culinary arts classroom, and members got a brief tutorial on how to use all the cooking equipment such as ovens, stoves, pots and more. All six of the cooking stations were used, as twenty-six club members made up of freshmen, sophomores and juniors were in attendance.

Profiteroles are small, unsweetened pastries—choux balls specifically—that are typically eaten after being stuffed with cream or custard and drizzled with chocolate syrup. The French club replaced the custard with ice cream, but kept the chocolate syrup and added both whipped cream and strawberries. Profiteroles are an incredibly popular dessert in France, and members were taught a bit about their long history in French cuisine.

Junior Maddie Van Dyk spoke on her culinary experience.

“Baking the profiteroles with my friends was a lot of fun, and they actually did taste really good once we were done. I’d definitely recommend joining for the next cooking activity,” she said.

Junior Mohit Srinivasan, a third-year club member, recalled his experience with the club generally.

“I really liked the club meetings as they help me bring myself closer to and discover French culture. Of course, I also get to hang out with my friends, and have a great time overall,” he explained.

The French club plans to regularly host meetings this year, with their next one being on October 17. Members will play minigames while learning about French culture, and everyone interested in attending can sign up using the Google Classroom code “rggn4vi”.