The scene of the event
"Food is part of the culture. Hopefully, tonight's King's Cake will not only capture the taste buds of the guests, but also enhance people's understanding of French gastronomic culture. Chef Trinity at La Sienne recounted her thoughts in and out of the kitchen.
Recently, the first French Corner event of the Kunming French Alliance in 2022 was held in Kunming. Accompanied by relaxed and romantic French music, the French people who came to the event, international students in French-speaking countries and French lovers continued to greet and chat in French, sharing the harvest of the past year and the expectations for the new year.
It is understood that the French Union was founded in 1883 and is the world's largest network of institutions with the mission of promoting the French language and disseminating francophone and regional culture. At present, the Alliance francophonie has more than 800 branches in 130 countries around the world. In 2018, Yunnan University cooperated with the Alliance of French Foundation to establish the Kunming French Alliance to build a communication platform for people and French learners in Yunnan who love French culture.
Dr. Dorothée Rihal, President of the French Side of the Kunming French Alliance, introduced that there were about 400 students in the Kunming French Alliance last year, of which about 30% were online students. In addition to students in school and children from native French-speaking families, there are also children who learn a second foreign language from an early age and people who have study abroad programs or are interested in French and French culture.
Dr. Yin Dongming has been committed to the promotion of French language and French culture. She received her earliest Chinese at Yunnan University. After that, he studied at Nanjing University and worked at the Consulate General of France in Wuhan for two years. After participating in a number of Sino-French cooperation projects, she deeply realized the importance of language for communication: culture is colorful because of exchange, and hopes that more people can better understand French culture by learning French, and then serve as a cultural messenger for Sino-French friendship. She introduced that in addition to opening online and offline courses, kunming French Alliance will hold a number of cultural exchange activities every year. During the French Language Activity Month in March last year, they invited a group of young poets and university teachers, including the famous Chinese poet Yu Jian, to share their creations at the "Poets' Spring" Sino-French Poetry Festival, as well as a special event for the 200th anniversary of the birth of the famous French poet Baudelaire. Through such poetic exchanges, the public has appreciated the beauty of Chinese and French poetry.
In addition, during the first phase of COP15, the Kunming French Alliance also launched the Sino-French Environment Month activities with the theme of "The Earth's Resources". Through activities such as "Let's Plant Trees Together", participants are helped to fully understand the current situation of the global environment, cultivate environmental awareness among teenagers and children, and call on adults to do environmental protection.
"At a French corner event like today, where people can learn French and taste traditional French food, it's a good thing to kill two birds with one stone." Dr. Yin Dongming said.
It is reported that in 2022, a series of activities such as the French Song Contest and the French Activity Month will meet with French and French culture lovers in Spring City.
The day's event coincided with the Feast of the French Traditional Festival. Chef Tri Wein at La Sienne restaurant created a traditional Epiphany dish of king cakes for the guests. In France, the significance of the king's cake to the main festival is the same as the Chinese moon cake for the Mid-Autumn Festival, pinning people's beautiful hopes for future life. At the same time, the way to eat the king's cake is also very interesting. "The youngest person at each table will divide the cake for everyone, and whoever eats the small porcelain man (broad beans) hidden in the cake in advance is the 'lucky one' of the night, which means that there will be good luck for a whole year." Trivia introduced.
Traditional delicacies king's cake
Trin has been studying in France since 2010. She studied French food and french desserts at the Chef's School Renault in Paris, before moving to the Brittany region to learn about making traditional French crepes. After returning to Kunming in 2020, she opened La Sienne French Restaurant.
Talking about the opportunity to open a French restaurant, Trin said: "The nearly 10 years of study and life experience in France have made me feel the richness of French culture. In the future, more French people will come to Kunming, and the exchange of food between the two sides will be further. I hope to apply what I have learned and help more Yunnan people understand French culture and enhance their friendship through food. It is understood that in addition to a variety of desserts and red wines, the restaurant also has one of the few sweet and salty Brittany crepes in Kunming. In addition, the restaurant has held events such as French wine tastings.
At the scene, Shi Guoliang, an international student from Benin, said that he came to Yunnan University to study because he loved Chinese culture, and the French corner gave him a feeling of "home", which also allowed him to meet many Chinese friends.
French pastry chef Li Xiaoyao couldn't suppress his joy: "I am very happy to be able to eat authentic king cakes in Kunming and meet so many friends who like French at the same time." He hopes that more Kunming and Yunnan people will like France through French and French food.
Yunnan network reporter Yang Xuan Wang Jingzhong photo report Word Jianfei video