Foods of the World Blog

A few weeks ago we finished our international units, which
unit was your favorite and why? My favorite unit was definitely the Chinese unit. There were so many great dishes that we made and a lot of them were dishes that I would typically order from restaurants. My favorite recipe was the lo mein noodles, as well as, the egg rolls. I have always wanted to make those recipes but never could find all the ingredients for them so it was really cool to have to have the chance to create them.

What country do you wish we studied and what recipes
would you want complete? (besides Mexico, that will be
our final unit!) I would of loved to make dishes that were from countries in Western Europe such as: France, Germany, Italy, UK, etc. A lot of my heritage comes from this region so it would of been interesting to learn more about those cultures and make some of the traditional food eaten in those countries. I also wish we did Hawaiian or Polynesian food because they have many interesting dishes that I have always wanted to try for example: poi, laulau, saimin, etc.

We have completed many recipes from other countries throughout this semester. What is one challenging aspect of cooking recipes from countries? Each country has their own methods for making certain foods like bread and meat as well as some countries use super unique ingredients that aren’t easy to find in stores. For instance, in the Japan unit we used a special kind of seaweed to make the rolls and that kind a seaweed isn’t so easy to find in U.S. grocery stores.

What have you most enjoyed about cooking recipes from other countries? I really enjoy learning to make recipes of dishes I love for example egg rolls or Lo mein. I also love learning new techniques and ways of preparing food like folding a wonton.

Are you happy with your current grade? Yes, I would say that I am happy with my grade

What could you do for the rest of the semester to improve your grade/maintain your current grade? I can make sure that our postcards are completing the task and I can make sure that I submit the blog posts on time.

What was the most challenging aspect of the summative lab? The most challenging was definitely finding the sushi recipe that would appeal to everyone in our group. We each have different likes and dislikes, for instance, I hate seafood so we had to find a recipe that didn’t include seafood. It was a long process and it took the entire period for us to find a recipe that worked for all of us but we eventually did it.

This is our second experience with plating, what did you use from your experience last time, and what did you do differently? I took my advice and picked garnishes that would enhance the sushi and add more color to the overall presentation. One thing I did differently is put my dipping sauce in a separate little dish so the person eating it has the choice to either eat with or without the sauce.

We changed up how we did the postcards for this unit, which did you like better? Having to research all of the topics but then do small group presentations, or having to research on topic but then do a class presentation? Tell me why. I definitely prefer the new version of the postcard share. It allows for us to learn new information and get more in depth with each topic. Additionally, it makes the presentations more interesting and not as repetitive. I learned things about Japan that I never discovered before which made it a lot more fun.

● What was the most challenging aspect of the summative lab? In my opinion, the most challenging part of the lab was getting my plating idea that I had in my head, to translate to the actual final dish. I can be super picky when it comes to presentation so I really wanted to make sure that it looked good and presentable in the end.

● This is our first experience with plating, what would you do differently during the next opportunity? I would probably add another simple garnish that is a different color to the rest of the dish to make it look a little more colorful and appetizing. I would also look at more examples of how the dish is traditionally plated and try to include those techniques in the future.

● What are your overall thoughts of our first unit? What did you like about this unit? What would you change? I personally really enjoyed learning how to cook these traditional Chinese dishes. I, in general, really enjoy Chinese food and it was really cool to be able to make it myself instead of ordering it at a restaurant. My favorite lab was definitely the egg roll and the chicken lo Mein. I wish we could of made an additional noodle dish because there are so many out there that are so delicious and it would be really cool to learn how to make it at home.

● Why did you decide to take foods of the world? I decided to take foods of the world because I was trying to look for an extra class to add to my schedule. First semester I took baking and pastry and really enjoyed it so I decided to move on and take the next level cooking class. I also was very intrigued when I heard that we were going to cook traditional food from countries all over the globe. I was shocked when I found out that this is the first year that foods of the world was offered at BHS and now I’m even more excited.

● Which unit sounds the most interesting you and why? Definitely the China unit. I really enjoy all different types of food from China. It is definitely my first choice when going out to eat for food. Some of my favorites are dumplings, sesame noodles, beef and broccoli, and spring rolls. I also am excited for the Greek Unit because I have never eaten traditional Greek food before.

● What are you concerned about and/or most excited for in the class? I am excited to cook and eat all different types of food from around the world. There are so many dishes that I have never had that I always have wanted to try. My only concern is for the Japan Unit. I am not into seafood or fish and Japan is well known for their fish dishes, sushi, and unique seafood. But other than that I am excited to start this class.