Introduction
By: Kristal Carrington-Cunningham
Class: Form 5
As you probably know, each country has its own eating habits and has its most famous traditional meals. Their cuisine is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture or region. Each cuisine involves food preparation in a particular style, of food and drink of particular types, to produce individually consumed items or distinct meals. A cuisine is frequently named after the region or place where it originated. A cuisine is primarily influenced by the ingredients that are available locally or through trade. Religious food laws can also exercise a strong influence on such culinary practices.
To become a global cuisine, a local, regional or national cuisine must spread around the world, its food served worldwide. There have been significant improvements and advances during the last century in food preservation, storage, shipping and production, and today many countries, cities and regions have access to their traditional cuisines and many other global cuisines.
Task
Your task for today:
Your school will be hosting a fundraising dinner for the theme Cuisines Around The World. The Food Nutrition and Health class was asked to plan the menu for the dinner.
Your task will be to research four (4) different cuisines: African, French, Japanese and Mexican. The class will present a menu for each cuisine.
Process
Follow each step to complete your assignment.
Step 1
Divide the class into four groups. Each group has to choose a cuisine:
Group 1: African
Group 2: French
Group 3: Japanese
Group 4: Mexican
Each group must provide a printed handout for each member of the class.
Step 2
Research on several features concerning each cuisine.
a) Most famous meals for the chosen cuisine
Why is that dish famous?
What does the dish consist of?
Does this dish have an interesting history?
b) Traditional meals
Make a list of them and describe them briefly.
What's the tradition, is it a holiday meal?
When is the meal served?
c) Customs connected with food
Make a list of holidays celebrated in your country. Make connections between the holiday and food chosen for your cuisine.
d) Choose meals
Choose meals that you found the most interesting and find out how they are prepared.
Write down full recipes for including ingredients and time of preparation.
e) Menu
Create a menu for the dinner.
Your menu should include an appetizer, a main course, and a dessert
Step 3
Present the menu using a powerpoint presentation.
Below, there's a list of website pages on which you should base your research. Each group has its own list, additional resources can be used.
Group 1: African
https://www.thespruceeats.com/african-food-4162459
https://www.tasteatlas.com/100-most-popular-foods-in-africa
https://www.africanbites.com/african-rice-and-beanswaakye/
Group 2: French
http://www.easy-french-food.com/
http://www.food-links.com/countries/france/french-food-culture.php
http://www.traditionalfrenchfood.com/index.html
Group 3: Japanese
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e620.html
http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/food.shtml
http://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Japan.html
Group 4: Mexican
http://www.sallybernstein.com/food/cuisines/mexico/
http://www.mexican-food-info.com/
https://www.delish.com/cooking/g1393/traditional-mexican-food-0710/
Other resources
Evaluation
Evaluation Rubric
Use the rubric provided to help guide your research.
|
|
Excellent |
Great |
Good |
Poor |
Score |
|
Participation |
Team members participated equally in research and presentation. Each student contributed his effort and shared his ideas and opinions. |
One team member may have done more work in either research or presentation. |
One team member did significantly more work than other team members. |
One team member did significantly more work or did all of the work. |
/25% |
|
Research |
There was very little or no evidence of research done |
There was some evidence of research done. |
There was an average amount of research with a variety of sources done. |
There was a very good amount of research with appropriate sources done. |
/25% |
|
Presentation |
The presentation was excellently organized. |
The presentation was very well organized. |
The presentation was somehow organized. |
The presentation was not well organized. |
/25% |
|
Handout |
The handout was excellently organized with sufficient Information |
The handout was carefully organized with the adequate Information |
The handout was somewhat organized with inadequate Information |
The handout was not organized with inadequate Information |
/25 % |
|
Total score |
/100 % |
Conclusion
You made the most important decision concerning cuisine that you will be serving at your school dinner. You have also gained knowledge about traditional dishes in some countries. I hope it will encourage you to broaden your horizons. You also got abilities related to research of information.
Use the information that you learned today to drive your interest in trying culturally diverse foods and remember food brings people together.
Credits
Reference
Hause, Alan M., Labensky, Sarah R. (2002). On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals (3rd Edition), Publisher: Prentice Hall.
Teacher Page
The purpose of this webquest is to familiarize students with the culture of some countries, especially their traditional dishes.
By the end of this task students will be able to:
- Discuss traditional meals in Africa, Italy, Japan and Mexico,
- use words and events to connect with food,
- select vital information from a variety of sources,
- work in groups and share their responsibilities,
- present well gained information
.
