Fresh picks … Ascham students get to work. Ascham's junior school head, Carolyn Williams, is delighted and considers the Week of Tastes a perfect extension of what the girls are already learning. "I feel very strongly that children today don't get their hands dirty - they don't understand where things come from," she says. "This helps children see what growing food and experiencing real food and real taste is about.
"Campbell is already planning another Week of Tastes for October next year ….."It helps the children understand that there's a process," she says. "That it's not just about going to the supermarket and eating something out of a packet."
3 days at the Ascham School, Sept 2008
Week of Tastes “Discovering Taste” Workshops were recently presented at the Ascham School over a 3 day period. Year 4 students took part in taste lessons; learning to discern - blindfolded - the difference between sweet, sour, salty and bitter. They learnt how all five senses affect both their taste and appreciation of food. Fun exercises involving the influence of sight, sound and smell on taste created much laughter and excitment in the classroom.
The children then had visits from various food professionals who came to share their knowledge and passion about their products. A baker, Michael Klausen from Brasserie Bread talked about how bread is made. This was fascinating for the girls since they had been growing wheat in their school vegetable garden over the past three months. Michael explained how the different flour and yeast sources used to make commercial bread can create bland tasting bread like that found in supermarkets or interesting yummy bread like that made at Brasserie Bread. All of Michael's breads are made with a 13 year old "mother culture" of yeast. The girls were captivated to think that something so old could make such delicous bread.
After the initial "taste exercises" the girls were so expressive and articulate about what they were tasting.
The class was also visited by a butcher and fishmonger. Each brought different products to expand the girls understanding of where these sources of nutritious food came from. The school's resident chef John then cooked up different cuts of meat as well as two varieties of fish. The fish surpisingly turned out to be a huge success!
Another day was spent preparing and cooking lunch. The girls were divided into groups of four and set the task of making some delicous dishes. There was very little food left and much enthusiasm for the herbed cheese calzones and the beetroot chocolate muffins.
After the cooking session, each girl wrote a report or poem about their experience. The three days were a huge success and there was much excitment and interest around the school ground about the fun had during the Week of Tastes.
3 days at the Ascham School, Sept 2008
Week of Tastes “Discovering Taste” Workshops were recently presented at the Ascham School over a 3 day period. Year 4 students took part in taste lessons; learning to discern - blindfolded - the difference between sweet, sour, salty and bitter. They learnt how all five senses affect both their taste and appreciation of food. Fun exercises involving the influence of sight, sound and smell on taste created much laughter and excitment in the classroom.
The children then had visits from various food professionals who came to share their knowledge and passion about their products. A baker, Michael Klausen from Brasserie Bread talked about how bread is made. This was fascinating for the girls since they had been growing wheat in their school vegetable garden over the past three months. Michael explained how the different flour and yeast sources used to make commercial bread can create bland tasting bread like that found in supermarkets or interesting yummy bread like that made at Brasserie Bread. All of Michael's breads are made with a 13 year old "mother culture" of yeast. The girls were captivated to think that something so old could make such delicous bread.
After the initial "taste exercises" the girls were so expressive and articulate about what they were tasting.
The class was also visited by a butcher and fishmonger. Each brought different products to expand the girls understanding of where these sources of nutritious food came from. The school's resident chef John then cooked up different cuts of meat as well as two varieties of fish. The fish surpisingly turned out to be a huge success!
Another day was spent preparing and cooking lunch. The girls were divided into groups of four and set the task of making some delicous dishes. There was very little food left and much enthusiasm for the herbed cheese calzones and the beetroot chocolate muffins.
After the cooking session, each girl wrote a report or poem about their experience. The three days were a huge success and there was much excitment and interest around the school ground about the fun had during the Week of Tastes.
