To broaden our students’ experience of Italian language, food and culture, Year 8 participated in an Italian Cooking class with Chef Luca Roncari and his team.
This was part of their Term Three project "Mangiamo!". Students took part in an interactive hands-on cooking and eating class conducted at school. The students made two traditional Italian dishes from scratch, Salame di cioccolato and Pasta Fresca. The students actively participated in the day and it was a fantastic opportunity to try something hands-on and new!
Student recount of the incursion
by Brianna Cignarella
There were many fun activities which all Year 8 students had the chance to participate in. The whole day was filled with fun which was a good experience for all to remember. The beginning of the incursion gave us a chance to refresh our memories with new Italian terminology which we recently learned.
The Italian Chef quickly went through certain pronunciations like the word “metti” which means “put” in English.
All Year 8 students participated in the making of the pasta which included kneading the dough as well as the making of the dough using flour and egg, or in other words la farina and l’uovo. Year 8 students also got the chance to cut the pasta and serve out the finished dish at the end.
Throughout the day students also learnt additional facts like how to check if an egg is fresh and the importance of maintaining healthy hygiene in the kitchen.
I loved the idea of having our own aprons and hats whilst getting the opportunity to cut the pasta and make the pasta from scratch. Particularly, I liked the fact that everyone was cooperating as a group with Chef Luca continuously saying: “mescola!” then “passa!” which means mix and pass in Italian. This way everyone felt included and felt like they were involved throughout the making of the pasta.
By Chef Luca using subject specific terminology in Italian, this allowed the audience (us as students) to become more aware/listen more closely to what Chef Luca was did or was going to say next. It brought the attention of students which made us listen. This is one part of the incursion which I enjoyed most and I’m sure the other students did too! Overall, a fantastic day which was full of excitement!
Students describe their favourite part of the incursion
My favourite part of the incursion was kneading the dough. This is when we got in with our hands, stretching, pulling and folding the dough. We would do this until it was of an even consistency. This was my favorite part as we were able to get in with our hands and really feel the dough. It was also fun to play with it (squishing etc). I also enjoyed the fact that we passed around our dough so that we could feel all the different consistencies, in all the different wads of dough. That is why it was my favourite.
“The Italian incursion was enjoyable for many reasons, and it was hard for me to pick one part as my favourite. After thinking, I found that my favourite part of the incursion was enjoying the food after we made it (with the help of our guests), because of the quality of it. I personally was not expecting the pasta to be as delicious as it was, and I’m proud of what we managed to accomplish. Being able to create pasta from scratch (which was a first-time experience for most of us) was a truly fulfilling experience. To conclude, the Italian incursion was an extremely fun experience for all the year eights, and I can confidently say that we all enjoyed every part of it.
“Overall my definite favourite part was actually getting to make the pasta ourselves and learn how to make it. I didn’t know it was that simple to do by yourself. At first, I thought it would be challenging but I was completely wrong. Normally I only eat the food but it was good to be hands-on and try something new. I really enjoyed trying to figure out what to do and which word went with whichever action. It was a good learning experience.
“My favourite part of the excursion was preparing the pasta. I liked mixing and kneading the best because we got to learn different techniques to prepare the dough. This involves making sure the dough is evenly rolled out, not adding too much flour, not over kneading and how to knead the pasta. We also had to make sure we cut the pasta into thin slices making sure they weren't too thick because we needed them to cook in 30 seconds.
“I really liked making the pasta. We made it by making dough, slicing and boiling. We started with making the dough using some eggs and flour. Then we rolled the dough and put it through the pasta machine. The pasta was sliced into shape and placed in boiling water to be cooked. The chefs made the sauce for us, once the pasta was cooked we mixed it with the sauce and put some parmesan cheese on it.
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