| 2008 Days of Taste - Staten Island NY |
by By DIANE C. LORE on
2008-12-03
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Staten Island Advance Food News
Healthy eating, ethnic cooking & more
Fifth-graders are given a multi-faceted lesson on city's food supply
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
By DIANE C. LORE
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- It looked like chocolate, so it was expected to taste sweet.
Not necessarily so, as the group of fifth-graders from PS 54 in Willowbrook found out when they tasted the brown nibblets.
"Yuk," the kids said, as their mouths puckered at the bitter taste of the dark cocoa on their plates.
Getting kids to taste new foods and make healthy food choices is one of the goals of the 14th annual Days of Taste program, sponsored by the American Institute of Wine and Food (AIWF).
PS 54 is one of a handful of public schools throughout New York City to participate in the program, which takes place over several weeks during late fall in schools throughout the country. The program enlists chefs, nutritionists and greenmarket farmers to volunteer their time and kitchens to teach kids about how food gets from the farm to the table, how it's grown and produced, marketed and prepared. COLOR, TASTE AND TEXTURE
For the two dozen 9- and 10-year-olds from PS 54, the program involved a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, a behind-the-scenes look at a restaurant kitchen and classroom lessons with an experienced chef. In this instance, the instructor was Chef Anthony Rinaldi, a Richmond resident who is executive chef of The Pearl Room restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
One morning, in the second-floor library at PS 54, Chef Rinaldi was explaining to the fifth-graders that foods come in different colors and textures, which give the foods their taste. But appearance and texture sometimes can be deceiving, as in the case of the bitter chocolate they sampled.
"Not everything tastes the way you might expect it to, and that's why its always good to try something new. You won't know how it tastes, and whether or not you'll like it, until you taste it," Chef Rinaldi said enthusiastically. ORGANIC AND PROCESSED
Dressed in sneakers, jeans and a white chef's jacket embroidered with his name, Chef Rinaldi passed out the foods he had brought along for sampling. Teachers Laura Kessler and Vera Dodd helped distribute apple slices, lemons, cocoa morsels and spices sage, rosemary and thyme. The foods were laid out on white paper plates, as the children sat around the library tables.
Chef Rinaldi talked about different tastes such as sweet, sour, salty and bitter, as well as how adding different ingredients can alter the taste of foods. He also explained to the students the differences between organic and processed foods.
Fifth-graders are given a multi-faceted lesson on city's food supply
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"You really have to try something to see how it tastes and if you like it. You can't tell just by looking at something," said 9-year-old Kaitlyn Zhurov, after tasting a bit of apple that was sour, as she had expected, and the cocoa, that was deceptively bitter.
Before they returned to their homeroom classes, the students were given a lesson in cleaning up the table and food preparation area, as well as washing their hands and how to clean the eating and cooking utensils properly. A RETURN VISIT
Chef Rinaldi returned to PS 54 the following week with ingredients to help the children prepare a harvest salad. His recipe called for roasted beets, candied walnuts and morsels of goat cheese over a platter of arugula, endive and radicchio, topped off with raspberry vinaigrette. The kids watched attentively as he whisked together the vinaigrette. Then he explained how to lay the ingredients on the plate.
"A lot of children today don't even eat salad, or anything green," he said. "Making a healthy, tasty salad takes time, and many parents who work don't have the time to mix a salad and whisk together a dressing."
Prior to the classroom lessons with Chef Rinaldi, the fifth-graders took a yellow school bus into Manhattan, where they met up with students from some of the other Days of Taste schools for a tour of the Union Square Greenmarket. Vendor farmers explained to the students how their produce is grown and harvested. "They know now that not everything comes from the supermarket," Mrs. Kessler said. SECOND FIELD TRIP
For their next eye-opener, students took a second field trip, across the Narrows, to visit Chef Rinaldi at The Pearl Room.
There they were treated to a tour of the kitchen. Chef Rinaldi demonstrated how to make creme brulee, with students watching in awe as he caramelized the sugar with a small blowtorch. The young guests then were served a lunch of Pasta Primavera -- penne pasta with vegetables.
"This is the first gourmet restaurant I've ever been in," student T.C. Rebovich declared.
Earlier Mrs. Kessler and Mrs. Dodd had given their young charges a lecture on table manners and demonstrated how a formal table is set. "Some of the students have never dined in a formal restaurant, let alone have any idea of which glass or utensil to use," she explained.
The teachers and students also compiled a list of vocabulary words involving cooking, such as sauté, caramelize, penne, creme brulee.
"We had penne pasta with vegetables, and one of the vegetables was zucchini, which I had never tasted before. I learned a lot of new words and about different tastes," said Lorraine Fernandez. FOUR-STAR REVIEW
After their return from the restaurant, the kids gave the Days of Taste program a four-star review.
"I thought Days of Taste was fun and I learned a lot about food and a lot of new vocabulary words," said 10-year-old Michael Jacobson. And, he added, " They made very good penne and creme brulee."
Mrs. Kessler said PS 54 plans to keep a schoolwide version of the culinary and food-tasting program going through January, as part of the school's enrichment program. Chef Rinaldi said he would be willing to return to the school, and Mrs. Kessler said she has invited other Staten Island chefs, including Evelyn Rogers of Taste of Honey catering in Travis, to speak to the students. "The kids love it, and most of all, they're learning. You can't go wrong with that," she said.
Diane Lore writes about schools and education for the Advance. Contact her at lore@siadvance.com.
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