Repulse Bay (Aug 23/06) - The tempting aroma of French cuisine had teachers and students alike struggling to concentrate at Tusarvik school in Repulse Bay this past week.

Samuel Vefrines arrived in Repulse earlier this month from the south of France to visit his cousin, Father Louis Fournier.

Vefrines had been travelling across the Americas, from north to south, for the past year when he decided upon the visit.

"This is my first time in the Canadian Arctic and I'm enjoying my time here," said Vefrines.

"The closest place to this I have ever been was when I spent a year in New Zealand.

"I really like the people in Repulse and I find the atmosphere here to be very positive.

"The people have been very welcoming of me since I first arrived."

Although a chef by trade, the last thing on Vefrines's mind when he came to Repulse was instructing a cooking class for a group of eight senior students.

However, a lack of access to the Internet led him to Tusarvik school and a deal was quickly worked out - volunteering his time to teach a cooking class in exchange for getting on the Internet.

Vefrines said he's enjoyed the kids' enthusiasm for his class. He concentrated his lessons on different caribou dishes, but also worked in chicken phanta and a French poultry dish which, when translated, means poultry with 1,000 leaves.

"The students have been particularly interested in learning the proper way to cut up and prepare different caribou dishes.

"They were surprised to learn all the different things they could do with caribou because they're not used to preparing it in these manners.

"We did caribou tenderloin inside a crust and sauteed or pan-fried caribou using the shoulder.

"They also learned to prepare a dish using just the rump of the caribou."

Vefrines said when people of an area cook a certain food a lot, it's important to add variety to the meals so the food does not become boring.

He said no matter how much you love a food, it will eventually become dull if you're always preparing it the same one or two ways.

"The kids thought it was cool to prepare caribou in ways they didn't know about, and thanked me for teaching them how to do it.

"They were all proud to prepare a meal with me for the school graduation."