I am teaching a cooking class for kids in grades 4-6 this week through our local community education department. The theme that comm ed requested was Cooking Around the World. It has been fun to plan the class and now teach it (as we are on day 2).
So far, we made pasta from scratch (a virtual visit to Italy) and also talked about how universal noodles actually are since almost every culture has noodles. Today we "visited" the Middle East and made falafel and pita sandwiches with a cucumber-yogurt sauce. I was delighted by how the kids just gobbled the sandwiches up. At first, they thought it was weird looking, but then they were brave enough to try!
Later this week we will make torillas from scratch, as well as salsa and guacamole. We are also going to make berry crepes and cocoa whipped cream. Tomorrow we are going to learn about chocolate and have a chocolate tasting. I have chocolate made with beans from the Ivory Coast and Bolivia, and lots of places in between. We'll also make some of our own chocolate creations.
I like the idea of cooking "around the world"---I think I will adapt it to my own meal planning to help get me out of my current summertime dinner rut---pizza, barbecue or sandwich!