We celebrated Latin foodways and Latin culture this week! In the classroom we read two books: Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Méndez and illustrated by Jaime Kim about a child of Argentine heritage in conversation with her abuelo and Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and illustrated by John Parra about how colorful Mexican culture is through food, dance, holidays, and crafts.
In the kitchen, we made arroz chaufa, a Peruvian fried rice dish that riffs on a Chinese classic. Our vegetarian version featured cumin and ají panca, a wonderfully fruity Peruvian pepper that isn’t hot, and loads of garlic and ginger. The first grade chefs practiced cracking eggs and cooking in a wok. We learned that using cold, pre-cooked rice for fried rice works the best because the grains stay firm and contain less moisture so they’re better able to stay separate during the cooking process while still absorbing flavor and sauce without getting mushy.
