Science Week in the Kitchen!

During Science Week, the Year 4 & 5 students explored the Science of Taste in the Kitchen. We discussed the 5 main tastes and how the taste of foods relates to their chemical make-up, but also depends on how they are combined and the effect of temperature whilst cooking.

Each group then cooked a recipe based on each of these 5 tastes:

Greek Stuffed Vegetables (Sweet)

Beetroot Borani – Persian Beetroot dip (Sour)

Rosemary Focaccia (Salty)

Vegetarian Samosa (Bitter)

Braised Pumpkin & Silverbeet in Miso (Umani)

These recipes showcased a wide range of tastes & flavours from around the world – Greece, Iran, Italy, India & Japan. When it came to sampling our dishes it was a healthy and exciting eating experience for all and it was so great to see so many students trying new flavour combinations for the very first time!

What a wonderful start to 2017 in the Kitchen!

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The Year 4 & 5 students have all had a wonderful start to the Kitchen Program this year!

The Year 4 classes have had an introductory lesson where they learnt about what’s in season in our Garden, they explored the wonderful space they’ll be cooking in and learnt the importance of safe Knife skills.

The Year 5 classes had a refresher course on Knife skills and enthusiastically began cooking their first Menu based on the fresh, seasonal produce from the School Garden. Their first menu consisted of Hummus and Vegetable sticks, Sweet Corn Fritters, Zucchini and Cheese Muffins, Greek Salad and Homemade Tortillas. (All recipes are on the Blog).

It was wonderful to see the students work so cooperatively in their teams and then come together to share and enjoy their dishes with gusto!

A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped us in the Kitchen this week. We look forward to cooking with you all again soon! 🙂

“Funga Alafia” – “Welcome, peace, good will to you!”

Funga Alafia is a greeting song and dance throughout parts of West Africa. Some people attribute it to the Hausa people from Nigeria. Alafia is a Hausa greeting and Aasheey means something equivalent to good health and peace be with you. The song is often sung with gestures, touching the head and extending the arms, then the lips, then the heart and showing empty sleeves. These gestures symbolize greeting people with your thoughts, with your words, with your heart and then assuring them that you have no tricks up your sleeve, that you have come in peace

Click here to watch and learn dance moves

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http://www.artslive.com.au/explore/teacher-toolkit/getting-started-with-music/learn

4B reflections

In kitchen I enjoyed trying new food and liked cooking all different dishes like potato salad, apple crumple and bread twists.

In science collaborative I learned about all of the new element that I didn’t know. Which ones are important for the garden like Carbon and Nitrogen. The element Potassium is also in a lot of fruits and vegetables. In garden I enjoyed getting my hands dirty and planting all new seeds into the ground.

I really enjoyed learning how to use the oven. I also really enjoyed kitchen because I love cooking at home and I now can cook better. In garden I learnt how to look after the environment and how to look after the chickens and that we don’t have Rosters (male chickens) because they can become aggressive. I didn’t like getting soil in my shoes!

In science and garden I really enjoyed learning about how to make homemade fertilizer. We make it with garlic and chilies because the pests don’t like the taste and it hurts their mouth. I have really enjoyed cooking, making and creating delicious and amazing foods, and have been inspired to cook and create more delicious and enjoyable foods at home.

I have a veggie garden at my new house, and so now that I have garden lessons, I can plant extraordinary and delicious plants. It was fun planting the plants and cooking them in kitchen. In Science I have learnt how to experiment and predict better than I could before.

In kitchen the food we cook is really yummy. I enjoy giving my mum recipes and helping her cook it.  I enjoyed being outdoors in garden lessons. In science I really enjoy learning so many new elements and where to find them around us. New experiments to learn out flammability, flexibility and strength were really interesting.

In garden I learned about working well in a group. In kitchen I learned that trying new foods is good because if you don’t try new foods you will never know if you like it or not. I learnt getting your hands dirty isn’t so bad.

This year I really enjoyed garden. In garden I learned how to be leader I also learned how to look after the garden and how to grow a little veggie patch.

I really enjoy Science I learnt about the properties material strength and flexibility and it helped me understand how objects around me work. In garden I enjoyed working in a group with my friends. I liked feeding the chooks. It is good to learn how the plants work and how the ground works. In Kitchen I liked the pasta, bread, salads and ravioli. We also learned about periodic table and the elements on it.

 

The video is here! Stephanie cooks with Bialik Primary Year Students!

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Click on either of the images to view the video – enjoy!!

It was created as part of the ‘Getting Started: An Online Guide for Educators’ includes self-directed learning derived from the print publication ‘Getting Started: An Educator’s Guide to Establishing a Kitchen Garden Program’.

For more information visit: kitchengardenfoundation.org.au

BBQing fresh harvest in garden class

During garden class today we harvested fresh carrots, potatoes and small broccoli heads, we flavoured them with herbs and straight away cooked them on the BBQ for all of our class! Everyone was excited and they were all eaten incredibly quickly! We loved it and next time will make pikelets and flavour them with items we harvest.

 

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Renowned Chef Stephanie Alexander Visits Bialik

The folks at the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden were so impressed with Bialik’s Kitchen Garden program that Stephanie herself decided to visit the College. The purpose of the visit was to film a series of instructional videos for her website, with the help of our students.

Stephanie spent the day cooking with groups of students from the ELC, Year 4 and 9. She showed the students how to create delicious dishes, including some healthy pizzas made in our very own outdoor wood-fired pizza oven. “It was really enjoyable as I learnt how to cook zucchini cannelloni, which I had never cooked or eaten before. Getting special tips from Stephanie Alexander was also fun,” said one Bialik student.

This was an incredible opportunity for our students to learn from one of Australia’s most renowned chefs, restaurateurs and authors. It was also the first time many of the students worked with a film crew, which was exciting in itself. One of our students commented, “I never knew filming was such a long process and requires so many different types of equipment such as lights, reflective disks and lots of different microphones.”

The day was a memorable one for Bialik students, as stated here by a student, “I enjoyed eating and chatting with new people and Stephanie Alexandrea was really nice.”

Zucchini cannoli made by the Year 4 students

 

“I never knew filming was such a long process and requires so many different types of equipment such as lights, reflective disks and lots of different microphones.”

 

 

“It was really enjoyable as I learnt how to cook zucchini cannelloni, which I had never cooked or eaten before. Getting special tips from Stephanie Alexander was also fun.”

 

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Stephanie made rice paper rolls with the students from the ELC