For the next 12 weeks, Harvey Milk third graders will be coming to the school kitchen for a weekly 75-minute lesson integrated into their social studies curriculum, which focuses on their home city of San Francisco.
We start with the native Ohlone people, who were hunters and gatherers, and made a salad this week featuring sorrel and purslane (greens students could forage in modern-day San Francisco), roots and seeds, and edible marigolds and blue cornflower (also known as Bachelor’s Button).
We made a simple salad dressing starting with pounding garlic into a paste in a mortar and pestle and discussed how to emulsify vinegar, lemon juice, and oil by whisking vigorously and adding the oil one drop at a time. Many of the students asked for seconds (and thirds!). My favorite quote of the week: “Why is this salad so good?!”
