I am a food freak. I am also a history freak. My oldest child is in elementary school, so he learns about the world during his Social Studies classes. To help him learn this, and give him a sense of the culture of whichever country he is learning about in school, I use food. I have a lot of fun with that. I go all out.
I research this country or that, and look at its history, and then I'll make some dishes that are special to that country. For Instance, when he learned something about Great Britain, I made him a “food tour” of the United Kingdom. Fish and chips for England, Kidney pie for Wales, Cabbage and Bacon for Ireland, and Haggis for Scotland.
I did the same thing when he learned about Italy, but I went through the different regions of Italy. We all have learned a lot about different cultures and the people who live there through the food I make.
I don't make all the different types of food all in one meal. I serve one meal from each area, sometimes cooking these things for a week at a time. It took us four days to "eat our way through" the United Kingdom. And every year I go through different regions of the United States when he learns about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and so on.
A people's history is linked inexorably to their food. There are foods which are indigenous to different regions of every country of the world, sometimes because the plants are wild there, sometimes as a holdover from times past, when the country was new, and was being settled by a certain group or ethnicity.
I have learned a lot about cooking in general, myself. I am proud to say that I can do things to save and preserve food that all my friends would never dream about. I can do things with leftovers that keep my kids guessing as to whether they are leftovers or not.
Another thing I find that is a fun way to help my kids learn about other cultures is to really go all out in the preparation of meals, and decorating the kitchen. I have the kids make a flag out of construction paper for each country, to be "flown" during the meal. Then they look up a dinnertime custom- such as when the Greeks break the dishes to show what a fabulous meal they just ate, and we will celebrate that custom. (I think the kids cleaned their plates that night, just so they could be allowed to break them.) We have a lot of fun with this practice. The children try new foods, and they learn about other places in the world.
My son learned in school that Marco Polo went to China, and he is the person who brought pasta to Italy. The Chinese had already invented pasta. The Italians made it their own, by adding all the different sauces and ingredients that they do, and now we think of pasta dishes as being strictly Italian. So one night, I made " Chinese Spaghetti".
This was simply spaghetti noodles with sesame-sauce from a jar and frozen stir-fry vegetables. I gave them chopsticks to eat with. The next night I made Italian Spaghetti with Garlic Bread, and gave them a fork to use to eat it. I asked the children which way they thought the spaghetti was better. They couldn't decide. We decided that the great thing about pasta is that it is bland, and so not only is it extremely versatile, it can be very flavorful, as well, since it holds sauces and other ingredients so nicely.
The children also like the customs of the Near East; they think sitting on pillows on the floor to eat is a blast. I would probably like it better if I could stand afterward without help, but, anything for their education, right? I know that I could help him learn about the cultures of the world some other way, but for me, this is best. It helps me to get them to try different foods, as well as cementing in their heads what they've been told about in school.
If a person has some reference point or guidance they can easily identify, then learning isn't so overwhelming. This is an enriching experience for them. It is an enriching experience for me, to know that I am helping enrich their academic education, and perhaps, foster some understanding between them and others. My hope is that they will find that people aren't so different, even though they may have customs which are foreign to them.
The best way I can get my kids to try something different at the dinner table, is to show them first. Huh? No, I didn't leave anything out of that sentence. I show the children what I am cooking, how I am cooking it, and why I am doing it this way. If the people in a certain region eat something cooked this way, I will cook it this way, and tell the children so. I also explain why I think they might eat it done this way. I tell about which ingredients are available easiest here, or are in season there right now. I let the children look up the eating customs of this region or that.
