Today Tasting Week hosted three chefs and an A to Z salad bar in three Bay Area schools: French American International School in San Francisco, Ohlone Elementary and Terman Middle School in Palo Alto.

Chef Alicia Petrakis from restaurant Astaria in San Mateo introduced two groups of students from Terman Middle School to the five tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami. The kids sampled a wide variety of ingredients from, starting with bitter and sour, and ending with salty and sweet. Among the most exotic ingredients, they tried anchovies, capers (salty), raw and caramelized onions, and molasses. Chef Alicia orchestrated the ingredients like a real symphony conductor, engaging the kids in a constant dialogue so they would really notice the experience of each taste in their mouth.

In parallel at Ohlone Elementary, pastry chef Michelle Boldrini from Facebook conducted her workshop on the topic of sweeteners – from white sugar to cane sugar, maple syrup, honey, agave and molasses. She also showed the kids what not to use –artificial sweeteners, and explained that Agave syrup, long considered a healthy alternative, is now understood to be as unhealthy as high fructose corn syrup. After an educational introduction to the various sweeteners, she let the kids taste her own scones, ginger snaps, pineapple glaze and chocolate custard (this last one was entirely vegan but she did not tell the kids until they had eaten it and loved it).

We heard that the workshop in San Francisco with chef Dennis Leary from Canteen was a big success but are waiting to hear the juicy details.