Saria Lum

Sophomore Augusta Chen turns her pan to coat the bottom with the crêpe batter. To make sure that the crêpe was evenly cooked, students could either let the batter spread in the pan or manually turn it to brown the edges.

Students in French classes attended a crepe-making workshop on Feb. 2 and 3 to celebrate the annual French holiday La Chandeleur, or Candelmas.

La Chandeleur is a Christian holiday observed 40 days after Christmas that marks the midpoint between winter and spring. One of its primary traditions is making and eating crêpes, which represent the sun’s warmth, light and the return of longer days.

“Chandeleur corresponds to Groundhog day here, but it also has a pagan history,” French teacher Agnes Pommier said. “Peasants wanted to see the sun, so making crepes was a symbol for the sun to come quickly in spring.”

“Food plays a huge role in French culture,” sophomore Amy Li said. “Making crepes is a great way to learn about the nuances of these holidays. I got to flip the crepe a few times and add the traditional lemon and sugar toppings to my crepe.”

A popular superstition associated with the holiday is the coin ritual. It includes flipping a gold coin in one hand while flipping the crepe with another. A successful flip means prosperity and financial success in the following year. For Pommier, her family has had a long-time tradition of making crêpes.

“Each region has specific traditions — in my family, we were always making crepes, and if the crepe stayed on the pan after being flipped it meant good luck,” Pommier said. “If it landed on the ground, that was not so good luck.”

The workshop began with a short demonstration of making and flipping crepes from Harker kitchen staff. To make a crêpe, the students sprayed a pan with oil to ensure the crepes did not stick. Afterwards, they spooned in one ladle of batter and slowly turned their pan in a circle to evenly distribute it on the bottom. Once the batter had browned on one side, students could choose to either attempt a pan toss to flip the crepe or use a spatula to turn it over.

Before students started, kitchen staff first taught them how to make the crepes and use the pan. Traditionally, a crêpe is meant to be eaten with a bit of granulated sugar or lemon juice. While these ingredients were historically the most available, modern variations include toppings like Nutella, banana slices and jam.

Students had filled out a Google Form earlier in the week to bring various supplies, like the toppings, cutlery or napkins. They could bring refreshments for the rest of the class as well.

Sophomore Sophie Yang appreciates the kitchen staff’s work and effort to help make celebrating this holiday possible.

“Crepe making every year is one of the highlights of French class and it’s very great that the kitchen staff can dedicate their time to helping us,” Sophie said. “[The staff] encouraged me to flip the crepe, and it went okay. It was a really fun activity.”