A Culinary Journey Through France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Tunisia

Castilleja School’s AP French students were treated to a special visit from talented Bay Area Chef Guillemette, owner of  the mobile French pastry school L’Ecole Gourmande. Chef Guillemette began with a tasting of several homemade cookies to see if students could guess the secret spices in each. guillemette-workshop-1-1She shared a bit of her own journey, having grown up in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Tunisia. Students had a chance to ask her about her experiences and favorite French pastries, and were able to make several cultural comparisons between attitudes towards food in France and the United States. The class ended with a hands-on cooking lesson to learn how to make crème Chantilly. The students were absolutely delighted by Chef Guillemette’s visit. One remarked on her way out that she couldn’t wait to get home to make her own crème Chantilly! Special thanks to Rebecca Scholl, organizer extraordinaire of Tasting Week in the Bay Area. It brings incredible richness to our cultural understanding of other cultures.

Secret Ingredients

Kindergartners at Laurel Elementary school in Menlo Park received a special visit from Tasting Week volunteer Judith Vacchino. They discovered 5 special ingredients that add flavor to many dishes: cinnamon, lemon, verbena, basil and orange blossom water. Judith's DemoThe kids had to guess which one of the five special dishes prepared by Judith contained which secret ingredient – pesto pasta, apple sauce, cake, tea and persimmons.  Our favorite quotes today were “it’s a stick!” (referring to the cinnamon) and “where do you put lemons? On lemon trees”. The smell of the orange blossom water was too strong for many kids, but they appreciated it a lot more when it was added to a persimmon. The hero of the day was definitely the lemon cake!

Gluten-Free and Full of Flavor

Fothergill at BrionesThis Wednesday four lucky classrooms at Juana Briones Elementary enjoyed a fun presentation by Chef Amy Fothergill on gluten-free cooking. The children tasted gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free pumpkin muffins and found that they are not only healthy, but also delicious. Just because you have food allergies or intolerances, does not mean you need to give up on great tasting food.

Chef Amy showed the kids that there are easy ways to substitute for wheat flour, dairy, and even eggs. She then explained where different flours come from and even shared her super popular gluten-free flour mix recipe. You can find it here, on her Family Chef website.