Trio get creative with food for Cork on a Fork
Deirdre Doyle of The Cool Food School.
“But underlying that is a more serious message about getting kids to eat more vegetables, because they don’t eat enough, and that is leading to an obesity epidemic in our children.” The Sensory Cooking Classes that Deirdre will host during Cork on a Fork Food Festival are about getting children to engage the senses in their interactions with food.
From smelling to chopping to dancing to tasting, children will gain much from these engaging cooking classes.
“Often, when we hear chefs talking about senses, they are talking about just taste or how something looks on a plate,” says Deirdre, “but it is so important when we eat that we engage all of the senses to really appreciate what we are eating.
“Something as simple as using our sense of smell: if something smells good, it’s going to taste good, but if something smells bad it could be a warning to us not to eat it.
“Using touch and texture, we can tell if a vegetable is soft or hard and whether it’s fresh or out of date. The look of something is important, but if we close our eyes and use our sense of touch, would we still know what we were feeling without looking at it?” A children’s imagination is a playground of the fantastical. Deirdre taps into that, sometimes pretending she is an alien and doesn’t know what an apple is, encouraging children to really think about the apple, what it looks like, smells and tastes like, and what it feels like in their hands.
She also uses this sensory approach to introduce ideas of diversity in food. Take tomatoes, for example.
“Tomatoes comes in all shapes and sizes: yellow, orange, green, brown as well as red. Sometimes they have ridges and look a bit like pumpkins. They all smell like tomatoes and taste like tomatoes, but they all look very different.” Irish grown tomatoes will be in their high season by August, and Deirdre will be using them in the workshop where children will learn how to make tasty tomato bruschetta.
“The children make everything themselves because that’s how they best learn. I heard recently that children learn 10% by hearing, 20% by reading and 70% by doing. They will touch, feel, smell and taste each ingredient we use to make the bruschetta. They’ll smell the garlic, smell the bread, then smell the bread after it’s been rubbed with the garlic, and be encouraged to think how the garlic has changed the flavour of the bread.
“I want children to be excited about food because we all eat three times a day and I want to share how endlessly fascinating and exciting food can be. Kids must learn to read and write, but they must learn to cook as well – it’s such an important life skill.” Although The Cool Food School can be a learning hub for children of all ages, Deirdre is particularly fond of working with pre-school age children from three to five years old because this is when fussy eating can kick in.
“The workshops really resonate with children that age,” she says, “and they are so open to new experiences. If we can expose children to ways to make healthier food choices from a young age, the more time there is to embed that way of thinking.” Can’t make the workshop? Access Deirdre’s Food Fun For Kids online video classes from her website. www.thecoolfoodschool.ie For the full Cork on a Fork line up, see https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-on-a-fork-fest/ or follow them on social media.
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