Part 1: Describe a Cuisine

What is this type of food like generally?

• What ingredients are common?
• What cooking techniques do they usually use?
• What flavors and seasonings are typical?
• Does this culture have any interesting meal time traditions?

Part 2: Design a Meal

• Create a meal that is at least somewhat healthy: it should be something that can be eaten a couple of times per week as part of a decently balanced diet
• Include pictures on your visual aid, and you may choose to include the entire recipe
• Analyze the nutrition of this meal. This is the big science item, so don’t neglect this part of the project! We want a thoughtful analysis of the food generally: is it balanced between carbs / proteins / fats? Does it have healthy fats? Is it high in sugar or salt or unhealthy fats? Does it have some nutrient dense foods? How highly processed is the food? Does it have fiber? Does it have a variety of types of food and multiple colors of foods?

Part 3: Bring a Food Sample (Optional)

• For extra credit, prepare enough of one of your meal items to give everybody in the class a small sample.
• A bite or two for each person is enough – no need to bring huge quantities.
• You should prepare the food yourself – can’t get the maximum extra credit by bringing in packaged food or something that a restaurant made.
• Doesn’t have to be the exact recipe from your meal, but hopefully it’s similar.
• You only need one food item to get extra credit, not the entire meal

General Project Info

• Only one presentation for each cuisine for each block. No repeats! If two groups want the same one, there are some creative compromises that can be made. For example, choose different regions of a big country.
• Consider choosing an interesting cuisine that is off the beaten path. Remember that there are lots of different cuisines in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and Central America. If you remember that, it should be pretty easy to find a topic that nobody else has chosen.
• Make sure your presentation is educational. You need to be especially careful if you choose a well known cuisine like Mexican, Italian, or Chinese. Be sure to look into ways that the authentic versions found in the actual country differ from Americanized versions. Get past the really obvious stuff (Italian food uses pasta, Chinese food uses rice, etc) and tell your audience more interesting stuff.