Culture Is Creativity

Culture Is Creativity!!!

A Webquest for 11th Grade (Food and Nutrition)

Designed by:

Ms. Nickya Bethel

Nbethel@gmail.com

Introduction

Culture is a way of life. It is a reflection of everything people do as a distinctive group of individuals. It entails language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, art, and other characteristics. The Bahamian Culture is very unique and diversified. Inhabitants such as Indians, English, Americans, Africans and people from other carribean islands all contribute to the unique culture of the Bahamas. The Bahamas is different from China, India, France, the United States, Germany, and many other countries around the world. The main purpose of this webquest is to explore various cusisines of different cultures around the world. Every country has its own culture and way of life which makes it different from any other.

Cuisine is one of the major characteristics that make a group of people different from another. Bahamian cusines mainly consists of conch salad, boil fish, johnny cake, guava duff, peas soup, and so on. It is fascinating to learn about other cuisine. Therefore, students will be introduced to a variety of cuisines from different cultures around the world. They will have the opportunity to share first hand in the experience as well.

                            Task     

You will form groups among yourselves and prepare a simple meal that is unique to a specific culture. I will allow you to choose from a list of countries and dishes that I have provided below. You will also have to read about the culture from the text I will provide and memorize a summary of it to present to the rest of the  class afterwards. 

France            -    Tuna Niçoise Burgers

Russia            -     Beef Straganoff

Asia                -    Asian Meatball Wraps

China             -     Chinese Chicken Salad

Switzerland  -     Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

You are not required to bring any tools to class. All of the ingredients, tools, and utensils will all be provided by myself. You will prepare the meal and present it to the class while giving some background information about the culture you chose. You will prepare enough food for twenty-five students to sample along with myself. You will have no more than half an hour to prepare the food and each group will have five minutes to present a short abstract of the culture. The other students will sample you dish after all the presentations are given.

Process

The activity requires a few guidelines to be followed. All of the groups are required to:

1. Divide into groups of five. 
2. Choose the country of your choice.
3. Choose the station in the classroom that you desire to work at.
4. Assign duties for each member of the group. 

Group 1- France - Tuna Niçoise Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 pounds fresh tuna, diced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 12 pitted kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed and minced
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoons anchovy paste
• 4 brioche buns, split and toasted
• Sliced tomatoes and arugula, for serving                                                                                                                                                                                         

Steps

1. Spread the tuna, scallions, olives and capers on a plate and freeze for 5 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until the tuna is finely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a bowl; season with salt and pepper. Form the mixture into four 4-inch patties.
2. Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the burgers with olive oil and grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until golden and crusty and just cooked through, about 6 minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise and anchovy paste; spread on the buns. Top with the burgers, tomato and arugula, close and serve.

Group 2 - Russia - Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 6 ounces cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
• 1 3/4 pounds beef tenderloin, cut into chunks
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 12 ounces boiled egg noodles 
• Dollops of sour cream (about 1/4 cup total)
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill fronds

Steps

1. In a large heavy skillet over medium high heat, heat the butter until hot. Stir in the onion and mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the beef tenderloin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and boil until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes. Season the Stroganoff to taste with salt and pepper and serve sprinkled with the dill and spooned over egg noodles dolloped with sour cream.

Group 3 - Asia - Asian Meatball Wraps

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds mixed ground beef, pork and veal
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon grated lime zest
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 10 radicchio leaves
• 10 small butter lettuce leaves
• Mint leaves, for garnish
• Lime wedges and hot sauce, for serving

Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large bowl, mix the ground meat with the garlic, shallot, fish sauce, lime zest, salt and pepper. Roll the mixture into 2-inch balls.
2. In a large, ovenproof skillet, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Add the meatballs and cook over moderately high heat, turning occasionally until browned all over, about 7 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for 7 minutes, until cooked through.
3. Set each meatball in a radicchio or lettuce leaf and garnish with the mint. Serve the wraps with hot sauce and lime wedges.

Group 4 - China - Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco
• One 1/2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• One 2 1/2-pound rotisserie chicken—meat shredded, skin and bones reserved for stock or discarded
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 1 cup unsalted roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• One small head of romaine, cut into 1/2-inch ribbons
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 oranges, peeled with a knife and cut into sections
• Lime wedges, for serving

Steps

1. In a large bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with 1/4 cup of the vinegar, 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the soy sauce, sesame oil, Tabasco, ginger and garlic. Add the chicken, scallions, celery, peanuts and cilantro and toss until coated.
2. In another bowl, toss the romaine with the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar and the olive oil. Spread the romaine in 4 shallow bowls. Top with the chicken salad and the oranges and serve with lime wedges.

Group 5 - Switzerland - Grilled Salmon with Cilantro-Pecan Pesto

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups lightly packed cilantro
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• Four 6- to 7-ounce salmon fillets, with skin

Steps

1. Light a grill. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the pecans in a pie dish and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes. Let the pecans cool, then coarsely chop them.
2. In a food processor, combine the pecans with the cilantro, cheese, stock and vinegar and process to a puree. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil in a thin stream. Season the pesto with salt and pepper.
3. Oil the grill grates. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and grill the fillets skin side down, over moderately high heat until nicely charred and crisp, about 4 minutes. Carefully turn the fillets and grill until just cooked through, about 3 minutes longer. Spoon the pesto onto plates. Top with the fillets, skin side up, and serve.

After the food is prepared, you are required to:

1. Set the food up on the table.
2. Tidy the area and wash all tools and utensils used.
3. Present an abstract of your country to the class for evaluation.

Evaluation

Each member in the group must be cooperative and participate in the assignments. If one group member does not cooperate, he/she will receive no grade or a poor grade. The other members will not be punished. Each member in the group is required to give an evaluation of the other team members to ensure that all members contributed to the activity. The group will be graded as a whole. The criteria for evaluation are as follow.

Conclusion

A Job Well Done!!!

It has been a privilege working with you awesome students. The food was wonderful and the presentations were intriguing. The entire class had an amazing time and I hope that we all can come together and host another event of activities.You guys now have an insight to other cultures which you didn't have before. You now know other dishes other than Bahamian dishes and have first hand experience in preparing them.

The next assignment will be creating actual products instead of dishes. I hope that we would have a more exciting time than this time. Be safe. Do not forget to welcome persons of other cultures and get to know more about them.

Credits & References

I will like to thank all the students of 11th Grade Food and Nutrition class as well as the administraive team for supplying our class with the ingredients and tools necessay to complete the activities. I will also like to thank the Principal and other faculty members for helping organize the event. Special thanks to Ms. Roberts and Mr. Barton of 11th Grade Literature and Social Studies and the Committee for organizing culture week for this event to take place. Great thanks to Google for providing remarkable picturess for this webquest.

Also special Thanks to the following:

Bahamas Culture. 

Grace Parisi. 

Ian Knauer.

Alison Attenborough.

Joanne Chang.

Fernando Lopez Velarde.

Teacher's Page

Title : Culture is Creativity

A Webquest for 11th Grade Food and Nutrition

This webquest was designed to make students aware of all the differences around the world. It focuses on cuisine and will teach students how to prepare various dishes from around the world.

The concept of webquest was developed in 1995 by Dr. Dodge to inform his student teaschers of ways to foster excitement in learning for their students using online lessons. Ever since, webquests have been used more frequently around the world by other teachers. They became sources for training students by providing links for all users to access.

The essential parts of a webquest consists of the introduction, task, process, resources, evaluation, and conclusion pages. The Introduction reveals what the webquest is about and provides background information about the topic. The task states the activity that the students will partake in and the end results that they are expected to receive. The process section gives clear directions and steps as to how the students will achieve their objectives. The Resources gives a list of all the tools the student will need. The most recent webquests have the resources included in the process section. The Evaluation component gives details of how the students will be graded for the activity. The conclusion portion brings the activity to a close and allows the students and the teacher to reflect on the activity that was done and suggest ways to improve it.

Webquests can not be used for every topic. They are best used for topics that need problem solving where there are more then one solution. They are also best used for topics that ask an open-ended question. A web editor, web server, and computer, is basically all that is needed to create a webquest. 

The hardest part to creating a webquest is finding the time to do it. The teacher also has to make sure not to use language that the students can not understand and that would hinder the learning process. Not all students are on the same level and the teacher must know that. Some students also have different ways of learning and webquests may not be the way they learn. Webquests can be used along with other learning techniques to facilitate learning skills through the internet