Kitchen Notebook: Cooks learning to try new foods

Ashanti Medina was clear from the start that she never eats fish, but said she might try it. Touching the raw cod was quite daunting for her, but she delighted in watching over the curried sauce as it simmered, insisting on tasting it right from the pan like the TV chefs do. It provided a lesson: not using the tasting spoon as the stirring spoon thereafter! All noted how beautifully colorful the dish became as the green spinach and yellow curried coconut sauce melded together. In the end, Ashanti managed to avoid eating the cod, but enjoyed the saucy rice.

- Amy Steinberg
and Cindy Rappaport

Happily, the meal ended with unexpected positive votes. We wanted to add a second vegetable and chose cauliflower, as it is often served with curry. We got a lot of comments during the prep that cauliflower and spinach are "nasty". The brown rice was well received. It did not look promising as a successful meal, but when we sat down to eat everyone loved it!

- Diane Fanelli
and Barbara Krumbhaar

This week we were a bit worried since the curry in the soup a few weeks back was not a hit, and Aniya Daniels and Annette Grant said they didn't like coconut, but curry, coconut, and fish did hit a sweet spot with our chefs this week. We spoke about flavors and how sometimes less is more when adding strong or spicy flavors. When everyone sat down to eat, our chefs felt the sauce was bland, but after adding some salt and then the lime juice, the flavor was brightened. Seconds were had by all. Lessons learned? Taste your dish before serving, and try it, you may really like it.

  - Adrian Seltzer
and Debbie Haggett
 

The coconut fish curry was a big hit! We used cod which worked well, and we voted on whether to add more curry powder, and fortunately everyone wanted more. It was fun and beautiful to watch the vivid green spinach wilt in the creamy yellow curry sauce. The biggest treat of the day was the decision to eat outside in a little protected patio that showered us with wisteria blossoms. We pretended we were in France.

  - Jeanne Runne
and Alice Sandmeyer

The chefs were enthusiastic for our recipe as they all love coconut and most like fish. They started the prep with Dave Garcia exclaiming, "I call chopping onions, since I don't cry." They were excited with how quickly it all came together. While it cooked, Chanitza Sanchez remarked how it smelled like macaroni and cheese. They others quickly agreed. When we all sat to eat, Yaritza Robles loved it! Chanitza loved the rice and fish, but said she put too much lime on it.

  - Lorrie Craley and Nicole Molino
  

 After talking about the different roles people take on in the kitchen, we assigned the job of expediter to Briana Marin. Nervously, she began by reading the recipe and her classmates eagerly volunteered for the jobs she doled out, preparing the fish, taste-testing and washing the dishes. In no time, we were ready to sit down and enjoy our meal.

  - Nancy Donahue and Beth Stack
 

As part of our lesson, I brought a fresh, whole coconut and showed the children how to find the "eyes." We located the softest one to poke a hole through. I put a bowl underneath, and asked them to listen when I shook the coconut. Coconuts are the full package when it comes to all five senses! Brown and rough outside; white and edible inside - with liquid. Afterward, they all got a chance to pour the coconut water out and smell and taste it. They agreed it was good, but needed to be sweetened.

- Lisa Krader and Linda Todorow

Having only one burner has compelled us to greatly improve our time management. While the rice was cooking, the girls prepared the chopped and liquid ingredients so we could start the fish when the rice was done. Even though the girls said "Eww, fish!" at the start, they devoured every morsel and agreed it was a "fish dish" worth making at home.

- Susan Munafo and Jane Pupis