One thing I love about my son’s 3rd grade teacher is how she has introduced the pupils in her class to many foods they normally would never try.  Each month they learn about a country that the parents help select then come in and share stories, photos, music and culture.  At the end of the month they have a tasting day.  I volunteered to coordinate the parents to bring in a food/drink from that country. It introduced me to some new foods (Malagasy Stew) and prompted me to attempt to cook something I’d always enjoyed but never made myself (falafel). 

But the best part is that each student must try a taste of everything and the teacher helps for instance, by saying while holding the pickled herring, “I don’t like fish but I too am trying it.”  They go through each item (some countries have more volunteer dishes than others —for instance Italy many and Madagascar only a few) one by one and describe what they think it tastes like— strong, salty, sweet, spicy, etc.  The kids love this day and I love watching some really picky eaters sometimes get surprised by liking foods they never would have touched with a ten foot pole.  It is a wonderful way of introducing new foods to the children.

I try to make sure there is a savory dish, a dessert and something the country is well known for the kids to try.  So I often put in a little too much time that day or night before getting prepared for it.  I want the kids to really experience something that people in that country would eat.  Luckily there are so many great parents of other students in the class who are willing to help and it’s never all left up to me to do.

This past month was Israel and I didn’t know where to start, whereas this month is New Zealand and I don’t know where to end! I decided that morning of the Israel tasting to make falafel— for the first time and my last minute decision didn’t pay off.  (Used a recipe by Mark Bittman) The chickpeas weren’t soft enough so I used canned but they were too soft and the little patties fell apart.  But the flavors were wonderful and so many of the kids liked them. I’ll work on getting the technique down (or planning better).

For now, it’s on to New Zealand and thinking what I should make… green lipped mussels or cervena or Pavlova or lamb or… something new for the kids to try.