Cooking in Class

In Deutsch III we have a pretty large unit on food.  They finally get words for fork, knife, spoon, etc, talk about fruits and vegetables, discuss fitness in relationship to diet and exercise, and then learn about table manners, restaurants and typical German dishes.  All in all, it's probably a month or so unit.  Now, I don't know about you, but I can't stand to talk about food for a month without getting to eat some :)

Our FACS (Food and Culinary Science) teacher is generous enough to let us into her room to use her kitchens.  We have the day to cook and eat some German food.  I usually open this up to my Deutsch II and Deutsch IV classes.  For various reasons - behavior and class size - this is not something I typically do with my Deutsch I students.

Students pay an activity fee (to pay for ingredients) and each class cooks something different.  This way they're not just cooking the same thing each year - they get to cook a variety of things over their tenure in German.

So what do we cook?
Deutsch II: Spätzle mit Erbsen und Speck; Sauerkraut; Eis (Vanilleeis, Schokoeis und Erdbeereis)
Deutsch III: Bratwurst; Kartoffelpuffer; Kompot mit Vanilleeis
Deutsch IV: Bratwurst; Käsespätzle; Milchreis

The day before we cook, I divide each class into groups.  Each group will be responsible for cooking a different part of the meal - the main dish, the side dish or the dessert.  Groups go through the recipe they'll be preparing to make sure they know what equipment they need, what ingredients, how to prep and the steps for cooking.  If you're interested in the recipes we use, click here.  Students also need to decide who will be doing what: who's the dishwasher, who's the dish dryer, who's the chef, who reads the recipe, etc.  This saves us a lot of time when we actually get in to cook.

Since we're usually working within 50 minute periods, there's a little bit of a rush factor for some of these dishes.  After several years of doing this, I'm at this point familiar with the problem areas and can work more closely with those groups to make sure they're staying on top of things.  The Kartoffelpuffer and Milchreis, especially, take a lot of time.

It's a lot of work but definitely a lot of fun!

Deutsch III working on their Kompot

Deutsch III making the Kartoffelpuffer

Deutsch II made a really good Spätzle this year

Deutsch IV's main course: Bratwurst and Käsespätzle

Another huge consideration - student allergies!  I send out a sheet home to students for their parents to fill out.  It explains what we're doing, the cost, and has a portion for parents to detail any allergies their children might have.  I've had gluten and peanut allergies - and a few rarer ones - come up, so this is definitely handy to know before hand!  Here's the sheet I send home (prices are old, but everything else is the same).

- Frau Leonard