Christy Wolf, resident chef at Sur La Table visited Peter Lee’s fifth grade class at Hoover Elementary school today for Tasting Week. She focused on the elements of tasting with the students. Discussion started with the students recalling the sweet, salty, sour and bitter taste buds. She went on to mention one more which many students were unaware of, umami (Japanese origin) – a savory taste. She taught the students that the amino acid glutamate is responsible for this particular taste. Browning/searing the meat and aging the cheese breaks down the protein leading to this flavor.

Chef Wolf went on to make a healthy, colorful and balanced (taste) salad which the students enjoyed greatly. She mixed together Dijon mustard, Cranberry Pear Balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar and Tuscan herb olive oil as a dressing with salt, black pepper, chili, garlic powder and lime. For the salad, she tossed together the mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, beets, apples, persimmon, watermelon radish and parmesan cheese. She also used melon and apple mixing them with salt, chili and lime to make a quick and tasty fruit salad.

Christy Wolf’s visit was a huge hit with the fifth graders and helped the students realize that eating healthy can also be tasty!