Sushi & Homeschooling

My love for good cuisine has been the catalyst for many articles over the years. I am an unabashed lover of the food that I enjoyed in my childhood (think Spaghettios and Cap’n Crunch). Does anything made by Franco American count as “good cuisine”? I would argue in the affirmative. Anyway, since the start of this blog I’ve been trying to think how I can tie food and homeschooling together. I am sure that I am not the only home school dad that loves to share food with his kids so hopefully other guys can relate.

As I mentioned in "Totally Outrageous Homeschool" blog No Such Thing as a “One-Size Fits All” Curriculum I believe that home education starts from the moment our children enter this world and should be a thing we just do as we go about our daily lives. While not every moment is a “teachable moment,” it is amazing how many moments in a day can be. From my kids’ earliest years we have had a Saturday morning pancake ritual which included the making of the breakfast dish and the eating of the same while watching Gerbert, Gospel Bill or Davey & Goliath. While the years have changed the routine in some ways, the memories of those mornings live on (as do variations on the theme).

Teaching kids how to measure out flour, milk and crack an egg without getting pieces of shell into the batter are all simple skills that they can master at an early age. Depending on maturity pouring pancake batter into a hot pan and flipping a pancake are all abilities our kids can master. We all know that chemistry is involved in the baking process but do we talk about it? Why do those bubbles form on the top of a pancake? Why does a pancake taste bad if it is cooked too long (i.e. burned)? All of these little things are practical, real-life questions and answers that will help our kids to no end. Who knows, with enough encouragement we may be laying the foundation for developing the next Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray.

By now you are probably wondering where sushi fits into all of this. As a kid I had no clue what sushi was. When I did learn what it was I wanted no part of it. It was not until I was an adult that I even ventured to try sushi; to my surprise, I was delighted by this delicacy.

As a parent I wanted to make sure my kids had exposure to sushi. Whether or not they enjoyed it did not matter, the key thing was that they would try it. All did. Poet at Heart likes so-called “veggie” sushi while Animal Lover has come to love all types of sushi whether it be nigiri or sashimi. My little boy, The Energizer, has tried it and does not like. I give him credit for giving it a shot.

Sushi is even more than just a food, however. It is an opportunity to learn. We watch Unwrapped and The Secret Life of… on the Food Network all the time. Both the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel also have good shows regarding food, history and preparation. The kids have seen how the fish are caught and how sushi grade fish are inspected at a higher level than regular fish. I’ve taken them to a local sushi market so they can see sushi being prepared by a sushi chef. My wife even purchased a sushi kit and taught the kids how to make sushi at home.

We were all very impressed when Poet at Heart found a recipe for "candy sushi" in Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids and created the awesome plate shown below. Made of marshmallows, puffed rice, various sweets and fruit roll-ups (in lieu of the nori) she single-handedly made sushi that even The Energizer would eat.

Of course one does not have to like sushi to get the kids involved with food. Homemade pizza, homemade pasta or just plain barbecuing on the grill all afford opportunities for us to share with our children our own experiences with food as well as teaching them basic cooking skills. Whether we are explaining why pizza dough rises or how fire can heat the inside of a chicken breast we are filling curious minds with useful information that they will one day apply. There will come a time when our children will flip pancakes in their own kitchens and we won’t be there to help them. Lets grab the chance to teach them now so they will be prepared for that day when they are on their own, perhaps teaching their own kids why bubbles form on the top of pancakes as they cook. (or why sushi grade fish is different than the fish you buy at Wal-mart).

NOTE: In case you have never heard of Gerbert, Gospel Bill or Davey & Goliath, feel free to whip up a batch of pancakes and watch the videos below. I guarantee the flapjacks will taste even better because of them.

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