How to Make a Vinaigrette

Today we had the pleasure to have Chef Virginie from Sur La Table for two wonderful workshops at Addison Primary School. Chef Virginie introduced the kids to the five tastes: Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. It was amazing that some children in both workshops knew about umami!

Chef Virginie used her workshop to teach the students about vinaigrette. She explained how mixing an acid with an oil creates an unstable vinaigrette, since the vinegar (the acid) and the oil will separate. To make sure the vinaigrette is stable, an emulsifier like mustard, honey, or an egg yolk is added.Vinaigrette Separation

Chef Virginie introduced the kids to two different dressings: A red wine vinaigrette made with red wine, olive oil and Dijon mustard; and an Asian vinaigrette which used rice vinegar, oil, sesame oil and honey. The children were instructed to mix the acid with the emulsifier first, and then slowly add the oil … as the kids whisked the ingredients together, the dressing became thicker and thicker!

Towards the end of the workshop, some kids had a chance to chop lettuce and vegetables, and then everyone enjoyed two nice salads!

Thank you Chef Virginie!

Tasting Food with Your Eyes and Nose

Beverlie Terra at Addison 2014On Monday, all the 4th grade students at Addison enjoyed the visit of Chef Beverlie Terra of Dolce Hayes Mansion and Chef Kathy Niven. Chef Beverlie discussed the benefits of eating fresh seasonal foods, visiting local farms and farmers markets, while Chef Kathy shreded the vegetables.

The students were surprised to learn how we can taste food with our eyes and our nose. The kids mixed together vegetables that had an array of different colors, and they “tasted” the vegetables with their noses by enjoying all the different smells.

Chef Beverlie and Chef Kathy then taught the kids how to make lettuce wraps. Each child took a lettuce leaf and filled it with all the different shredded vegetables such as yellow Lettuce Wraps at Addisonsquash, zucchinis, cucumbers and rainbow carrots…. They added some homemade Ranch dressing, and voila — delicious lettuce wraps. While the students were busy eating their wraps, Chef Beverlie demonstrated how to make Ranch dressing using a whisk.

The line for seconds was huge!! The lettuce wraps were a big success!