In the classroom this week we started a two-week exploration of global foodways with the book My Food, Your Food, Our Food. We learned about a grain called fonio that is a staple in West Africa and talked about the fact that food practices around the world share many similarities and have many differences.
In the kitchen we made a curried fonio pilaf highlighting several ingredients that are native to the African continent such as yams and black-eyed peas as well as ingredients that were naturalized on the African continent such as coconut, tomato, ginger, and hot chiles. The flavor profile of this dish represents a new experience for many of our chefs, who all bravely tried something outside of their comfort zones.
