What enthusiastic fifth graders arrived for our first class! Sofia G. returned for another session after cooking with us last fall. “Why wouldn’t I come back?” she said. “I loved it!” They were all so attentive to the many lessons we had to cover: how to wash hands, read a recipe, hold a knife, chop vegetables, crack an egg, sauté in a skillet, assemble a burrito.
Two cousins in the class, Ivan C. and Jason V., have parents who run Mexican restaurants in Camden. So Jason already knew the “bear claw” technique for holding a knife and told us his Mom’s first restaurant was called Bear Claw!
After reviewing the recipe and ingredients, we halved the onion and pepper and divided that dicing among four students, with the experienced Sofia leading the charge. “Get a bowl of water,” she said. “That helps keep your eyes from watering with the onions.” The two remaining students chopped garlic, so everyone got their hands on a knife for the first class.
We moved on to sautéing, with Sofia expertly handling the onions, peppers and spinach; Christopher V. and Ivan cracking the eggs, and Jason patiently scrambling them on our slow-to-heat countertop burner. Hermione G. took the job of grating the cheese, while Ivan sliced the avocado. “It’s sticky!” he said as he sliced.
The most fun was portioning out the eggs and veggies onto the tortillas, and then taking a turn folding them up into a pocket. Lots of opinions were expressed when the burritos were being made with lots of “I don’t likes…” including beans spinach, vegetables, even burritos.
But when they came out of the oven and the kids gave them a try, they were a universal hit. “It’s a variation on a Egg McMuffin, except in a burrito with some veggies,” I told them.
“This is so much better,” said Elias.
“And so much healthier,” said Hermione. “I don’t like vegetables, but I can’t even taste them in this!”
“The best part is the eggs and beans,” said Christopher.
And once again, Sofia shared her experience: “I learned last year, if you combine foods you like with food you don’t like, it can taste different and be really good!”
