An Interview with Madame Tedder

For this interview, I interviewed my high school French teacher, Madame Tedder. I was only in Madame Tedder’s class for about a year but she made an impact on furthering my knowledge in the French language. I enjoyed her class and the way she incorporated different aspects of the French culture into our class. The first real experience I had with French cuisine was in Madame Tedder’s class when she made us crepes after one of our big tests and I’m glad she was able to incorporate that into this interview. There were days where we did traditional note taking but we also did hands-on learning experiences that made it more enjoyable to study. I sent her this questionnaire via email and following are her responses. The questions are in bold and her answers are in regular font.

1. How did your study of the French language get started? Both of my parents were born in Toulouse, France. They moved to America in their early 20’s and had me shortly after moving here. French was my first language and I’ve been immersed in the culture and language since I came out of my mother’s womb.
2. Have you ever been to France?
   • How many times? I’ve been to France countless times. All of my extended family, other than my husband’s, is in France and we try to visit at least twice a year. We try to visit more if we can but now that I have my own children, it’s tough to schedule visits that don’t interfere with school or our work.
   • What are some of your favorite aspects of French culture? Particularly the cuisine. As cliché as it may sound, I love everything about the French culture. If my parents were to move back to France, I would go with them in a heartbeat. Having children now makes it difficult too but they’re young and would adjust if we were ever able to move. As far as the cuisine goes, there aren’t many foods I don’t like (I promise I’m not fat.) To me, I think French cuisine is so different from American food particularly in reference to the texture. I find that most of the French dishes are denser and more complicated. It’s hard to type out exactly what I mean but when you compare a regular cake you would have for dessert in America to Crème brûlée I think my point is made.
3. What is your favorite French food? I certainly can’t pick only one food to be my favorite so I’ll break it down into categories. My favorite breakfast item is any kind of crepes. I love fruit and chocolate in my crepes but any kind of crepe will do. For lunch, I would order Coq au vin any time it’s at a restaurant we go to. My mother has a family recipe and she makes a special sauce that makes this meal to die for. Ratatouille is my all time favorite meal and typically what I would desire for dinner.
   • Do you have a particular memory associated with this food? I have so many memories associated with French cuisine given my background but my favorite memory that I’m sure you will enjoy deals with ratatouille. My mother used to cook ratatouille for dinner all the time and I absolutely hated it. When I would get home from school and she would tell me we were having ratatouille for dinner I would cry and refuse to eat. Once, she made me sit at the dinner table all night and I fell asleep on the table. By the time I was in high school I started to love it! I’m not sure what changed because my mother’s recipe didn’t but I started asking for that meal more than my mother wanted to cook it. As I’ve grown, I’ve been able to add my own variations to the recipe and I love it even more.
4. Being in the United States, is there a particular food that makes you feel closer to the French culture? When I think of France, I think of onion soup and croissants. I’m not a huge fan of any kind of onion soup but I feel like they are a staple dish in France and it makes me think of my family in France whenever someone mentions the name. Croissants are hands down one of the most traditional foods in French cuisine. I don’t think there is a single person who has visited France and not had at least one croissant.
5. What are some aspects of French culture and cuisine that you find the most interesting? I truly enjoy the architecture of France. It’s so different from what we see in America and I find it so beautiful and intriguing. I like the history France has to offer and how this history is shown through the buildings and architecture all throughout France.
6. What is your favorite French food to cook at home? Ratatouille for sure. I’ve become a pro at making it now.
7. How are you able to incorporate different aspects of French culture in your everyday teaching? I teach the first two levels of French at the high school level. With my family and background, I’m able to show pictures and videos and share experiences with my students. Each year I try to schedule a time with some of my extended family in France to FaceTime my class and try to speak to them so the students are being immersed in the language in a different way.
   • Are you ever able to incorporate different French cuisine into your teaching? Each semester we use one our class periods and go down to the cafeteria and make crepes with all different types of toppings! I try to do it the class period after a test or big assignment so it’s more of a reward for the student’s hard work.
8. If you were able to go to France right now, what would you do/see first? And what kind of food would you eat first? I’d definitely go see my family first and spend some time with them. I’d want to go to Disneyland because after all of my visits to France, I’ve never visited Disneyland France and that is definitely on my bucket list. As far as food, I’d want anything my grandmother would want to cook for me. She’s the best cook I know.