Today we had the pleasure to have Chef Virginie from Sur La Table for two wonderful workshops at Addison Primary School. Chef Virginie introduced the kids to the five tastes: Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami. It was amazing that some children in both workshops knew about umami!
Chef Virginie used her workshop to teach the students about vinaigrette. She explained how mixing an acid with an oil creates an unstable vinaigrette, since the vinegar (the acid) and the oil will separate. To make sure the vinaigrette is stable, an emulsifier like mustard, honey, or an egg yolk is added.
Chef Virginie introduced the kids to two different dressings: A red wine vinaigrette made with red wine, olive oil and Dijon mustard; and an Asian vinaigrette which used rice vinegar, oil, sesame oil and honey. The children were instructed to mix the acid with the emulsifier first, and then slowly add the oil … as the kids whisked the ingredients together, the dressing became thicker and thicker!
Towards the end of the workshop, some kids had a chance to chop lettuce and vegetables, and then everyone enjoyed two nice salads!
Thank you Chef Virginie!
e proper cooking technique to coax this secret out. By the end of the workshop even the kindergarten students were shouting the correct answers to cooking temperature questions! And everyone enthusiastically finished off the Asian Lettuce Cups at the end of the demonstration.
Today Bay Area Tasting Week founder, and fearless leader, Rebecca Scholl led two workshops for 3rd graders at Juana Briones Elementary School. The “Five Senses” workshops taught the kids how sound, smell, sight, texture and flavors all contribute to the tasting experience.
a multi-colored and multi-flavored salad. She really got the creative juices flowing; before you knew it, they added pretzels to the salad. What???
Chef Ellie Lavender wowed the students at Palo Verde Elementary School with her workshop on vegetarian Mediterranean foods. The children journeyed to Morocco with Chef Ellie, explored this land of magical spices and food, and then feasted on a Vegan Moroccan Couscous Salad with Lavender Tahini Dressing. To read more about the workshop, see more pictures, and get the recipe for yourself – visit 
To kick off Tasting Week 2016, we welcomed Chef Christy from Sur La Table to Juana Briones Elementary school. After introducing the kids to several new fruits and vegetables such as quince, rhubarb, radicchio, and jicama, she explained the process in creating the “umami” or “savory” taste. Umami is created when you break down amino acids into glutamate on your tongue – for instance when you brown meat, dry fish to make fish sauce, transform soy into soy sauce, or age parmesan cheese. The secret umami ingredient that chefs will never admit to using but that they use all the time? Garlic powder!
