food lab #4: Crepes

Crepes

• I liked/ Didn't Like… at home I could alter this food product by…

I liked the idea of using berries to fill the crepes but I would like to add nuts and chocolate such as nutella to it for more flavor. Also, I would like to add more sugar to it because I like it to taste sweeter. I would fry my crepes in butter because it would taste better and also i like my crepes to be crispier. In my opinion, crepes will taste good with almost any fruit but I would like to try it with grapes and peaches. using honey to make it taste sweeter will be a both good and healthy idea too.

• Culture of the dish . is it a ‘fusion’ dish?. Explain a bit about how this dish is traditionally used in the culture.

the word crêpe is French for pancake and is derived from the Latin crispus meaning “curled”. On February 2 crêpes are offered in France on the  holiday known as "Fête de la Chandeleur", "Fête de la Lumière", or “jour des crêpes”.  Not only do the French eat a lot of crêpes on this day, but they also do a bit of fortune telling while making them  It is traditional to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crêpe pan in the other, and flip the crêpe into the air.  If you manage to catch the crêpe in the pan, your family will be prosperous for the rest of the year.

• What were some challenges you faced during your lab? How did you deal with them?

the process of frying the crepes was the hardest part because you needed to pour the liquid and then turn the pan at the same time for crepe to from a thin circle. Me and my teammate did a good team work and that was the solution to our problem. also flipping it after one side was cooked was a challenge because it was so thin so there was a chance for the crepe to be ripped off or stick to the other side. i used too wooden spoons to flip them and it worked perfect.the other challenge was to fill it because the berries had different sizes but with slicing them properly the problem was solved.

food lab #3: Veggie Burgers (chickpea burgers)

Chickpea burgers

• Who might be interested or enjoy your dish? Why or why not? Be specific. ( children if colorful, etc...)

people who are vegetarian or do not like to eat meat but enjoy the flavor of burgers will definitely like this dish. Also people with high cholesterol level would love this meal because it has almost zero percent of bad fat but tastes good and yummy. Also it is easy to make and doesn't take much time so it would be a good idea for people in time limits. It is also a perfect lunch for students because it has the essential vitamins and minerals in it and it does not require warming or a lot of space.

• What is your biggest ‘take away’ or lesson that you learned during this food lab?

In my opinion, the biggest lesson that i learned through this lab was that you can make a delicious food with any simple materials if you know how to combine them. When first the teacher introduced chickpea burgers I wasn't sure about how it is going to taste but at the end I was in love with everything about it. Also I learned if you over do any thing, it will ruin the whole thing! like using too much peas or too much vegetable. every thing should have a balance and that's the key to a perfect food lab.

• Where or what types of places can you envision this dish be served at. discuss in 1-2 sentences. (events, sports, and etc…)

I think this meal will be a wise choice to make when there is an event which is public and many people with different tastes will be there such as sport events or school field trips. Also this dish will be a good as a part of the schools' lunch menu because it is both healthy and cost- effective.

• How can you add your own creativity to personalize the dish?

If I wanted to add my creativity to this dish, I would probably add more herbs and vegetable so that it would have both more vitamins and fiber. I would also make the burger bread my self and I would add fresh herbs and garlic to it for more flavor. I am a kind of person who likes sour food so I would add a little lemon for more flavor and at the end, I would add some nuts for better texture.

food lab #2: Tacos

Tacos

• How can you transfer some of the concepts, skills, and procedures that you learn in this lab to new situations inside and outside the classroom?

In this lab, we learned how to work as a group for one goal so we divided all the work between ourselves and everyone had a role.(My role was to prepare the meat.) Being able to work in a group is a skill which can be used in many places now or in the future. Also, knife skills can be handy when you are preparing a meal at home. Knowing how to use knife will guarantee your health in the kitchen and also makes you look professional. I never had a chance to try Taco or any other Mexican food and it was a really good experience for me to learn how to make some! In addition, I now know what are the flavors used in Mexican food and it is interesting because now i can easily make them at home for my family. 

• Who might be interested or enjoy your dish? Why or why not? Be specific. (example: children if colorful, etc...)

For sure, every one can enjoy this joyful meal but I think it is mostly desirable for people who like spicy food! Children will love this food because it is so colorful and cute! Most of Mexican people will love this food too, because it will remind them of their own country and maybe a taste of home! Also people who are worries about their weight can eat this food without calculating the calories or the amount of fat because this meal is full of vegetable and necessary vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. it is also so easy to prepare and fast so it is suitable for people who are always in hurry and want to take all the nutrition they need in a short time!

• How can you add your own creativity to personalize the dish?

You can make this dish with different kinds of meat like pork or chicken!you can also make it all with vegetable which is a great choice for vegetarian people! As a Persian,i will make it with spices that are special and are only produced in Iran. Also, if I make it at home, I will probably add chopped herbs in meat to get new flavors. Also I can make the bread my self so I can garlic or herbs to it for more flavor!

• Does this food remind you of any  family recipes? Which one? Talk about it.

Yes. My mom makes the same composition and then mixes them all in a pan( She adds different spices but at the end it tastes the same!)! we do not put it in a bread. We just make a sandwich if we want or just eat it with salad! I always thought salsa is a sauce but now i know it is same as Salad- Shirazi which we make often. The only different that these two have is that we add cucumber to Salad-Shirazi.