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Students are learning how to chop, dice and cook their way through university life and survive living away from the comforts of home in Bahrain.
Youngsters at the British School of Bahrain will have less to stress about once they leave the nest because their head of food technology, Suzanne Bolster, is determined to enrich them with the knowledge and techniques necessary to sustain a healthy lifestyle.
The students are gaining all the basic culinary experiences they need in a state-of-the-art Food Technology Lab at the Hamala campus.
Mrs Bolster said: “I think it’s important to know how to cook, especially if you are going off to university. These students already have a lot on their plates from studies and so on that they need all the help they can get.
“This course will help them manage themselves in the kitchen, learn how to read recipes and adapt them to their own tastes, know how to chop and prep items safely and even give them confidence to host dinner parties with friends.
“It can be really daunting at the beginning but my students learn so fast and I think it’s because it’s in a sociable type of class where they are supposed to chat and enjoy the experience.”
Once a week, the Year 8 to Year 11 students receive 80-minute sessions on how to learn different cooking techniques, as well as how to stay organised and neat in the kitchen. While most youngsters wait until they are graduating to pick up a spatula or a spoon, BSB starts its culinary crash course from Year 8.
The class varies from year-to-year, starting with the basics to understanding how to develop a menu or meal for any occasion. The youngest children learn how to peel, chop, slice, dice and even clean their work stations before tackling how to make simple dishes to take home to their families such as fruit salads and pancakes.
Teenagers are then taught to make full main meals such as saucy Spaghetti Bolognese, Cheesy Macaroni and various other dishes using an oven or hub. They also learn how to bake a cake as well as other delightful desserts.
Mrs Bolster turns the heat up in the kitchen in Year 9, teaching them how to make pastries as well as different foods from around the world. At the end of the year, they learn how to bake and decorate their own celebration cakes.
According to Mrs Bolster, after Year 9, it’s up to the students whether they want to continue cooking for their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in Year 10 and 11 and most of the times she gets a packed house. Her usual class of 24 pupils may be whittled down to half, but it’s filled with passionate mini-chefs.
She said: “There are teens who are interested in cooking and some even have great potential to take it further. I love when my students come back to school after the weekend and share what they have made with their families.
“It’s a nice bonding experience for them to work with their mums and dads before they go solo. Some of the kids are really interested in cooking while the others just want to eat, but at least I’m getting through to them and they are learning how to survive on their own! Also, the parents love it and are very encouraging of their children because they are learning an important skill set.”
During Year 10 and 11 classes, the students are getting more than just a recipe to complete as they are given a chance to develop their own food designs. For example, Mrs Bolster will ask them to develop a menu. They have to research the occasion, see what fits, talk to people and see what they like or dislike.
She added: “They work more on designing and developing a product like a mini-business. I can say one week I want you to cook a vegetarian meal and they have to set out and do it. We have loads of cook books in the lab with different recipes for them to choose from.”
Aside from teaching them the tricks of the trade, Mrs Bolster’s aim is to make sure they know what they are eating. The students fill out evaluation forms at the end of every class stating, for example, what goes into the recipe they just completed. It also helps that they have a fully-stocked fridge of locally-grown vegetables and healthy products.
“I am also trying to teach them how not to be wasteful, buy local and make use of items in season,” she explained. “I want them to think about the world in general, not just cooking something without knowing where it comes from and what it does to their body. I think sometimes kids don’t understand what actually is in what they are eating, so we try to get that thought across to them in every class.
“They do evaluations at the end of the class to list out the nutrients in the dish, how they benefit the body and what to serve alongside it. They also write up what ingredients they can substitute for better quality eating. For example, if they were to make something sweet, they would look at why they would put sugar in it or whether there was an alternative, healthy substitute.
“Last week we made chocolate banana bread so we used dark instead of milk chocolate and coconut oil instead of vegetable oil. We want to make them a little more aware.”
Mrs Bolster grabs many of her healthy recipes from Derval O’Rourke’s cook book, Food for the Fast Lane. She also refers to Rachel Allen’s work and uses recipes from La Cucina Italiana.
The GulfWeekly recently joined a Year 9 class during Italian Week to understand the ins and outs of Mrs Bolster’s kitchen.
The large lab was bright and clean, with shiny steel countertops and sinks, high-end ovens and hubs, as well as cabinets to store a variety of pots, pans and cutlery. Safety signs were placed around the class with tips and warnings, although Mrs Bolster was clearly around to ensure everything ran in an orderly fashion along with food technician Elisabetta Massey, who was responsible for the maintenance of the kitchen and sourcing the ingredients.
A recipe was blown up on a projector screen for everyone to see clearly and a printed version was passed around to be completed after the demonstration.
Mrs Bolster, surrounded by her students, demonstrated the recipe on her own workstation before sending the teens off on their own bases. For Italian Week, she showed them how to make a savoury risotto with peppers. While they were paying close attention, Mrs Massey organised the work stations by placing pre-chopped ingredients in little bowls to ensure a tidy work space.
After the demonstration, the students began cooking up a storm, with scents of coriander, peppers and cherry tomatoes wafting through the room.
Rhia Stones, 13, from Barbar, loved every minute of the class, from cooking to cleaning up, and was considering taking the subject at GSCE level. She said: “It’s a really fun class and the best is cooking and eating the results. Sometimes I cook at home and my family likes my food. I am really thinking of taking this class next year, especially as my mother did when she was younger. She is a great cook and I want to be like her, so it’s the right step. Also, it’s good for when I go off to university because when I’m abroad all I will have is myself and I want to eat right.”
Her classmate Deema Al Saleh, 14, from Hamala, is also a whiz in the kitchen. She said: “I really like cooking and I have been learning a lot. My favourite thing that I have made so far was a mince pie. I feel a lot more confident in the kitchen thanks to this class.”
The boys got into the spirit of cooking too. Dariyush Tostwalla, 13, from Sehla, was especially excited about Italian Week as it’s his favourite type of food. He said: “I like to cook and sometimes I cook at home. It can be fun.”
At the end of the session, the pupils cleaned up their stations and packed their meals to either gobble up during breaktime or at home with their families.
* For more details, visit the BSB website www.britishschoolbahrain.com
