Back to School Night: 27 September, 2012

Food and Culture: English 7-8

Jamie Zartler

Thank you for being here this evening. We should partner because we have the same goals.

To partner we need to be in communication.
Email: JZartler@pps.net works best for me. 503.916..5160 75 700 might work better for you.

I'm generally not at Grant Monday afternoons, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I do use Edbox, and you should, too.

All this contact information  is on the school web page:
Zartler on GrantHS.com .

This is also the place to find my syllabus for this course. The main ideas captured there are: This is an English Course; students need to read and to write. Students should learn thinking skills as well as skills that will help them learn and be productive their entire lives.

Food and Culture is NOT a Home Economics class, though I hope my students will learn something about cooking and eating well. (And thank you for those of you who have been able to help with the suggested materials fee donation.) There will be opportunities for students to eat in class, and for them to cook in class. (Parental Warning: knives are sharp. Appropriate instruction in the use of sharp tools will be provided, but students must exercise due caution.) The idea behind the Food and Culture class is that  there are many, many interesting questions that arise when we think carefully and critically about food and how reflects culture.

The Grant English Department has, over the last several years, increasingly recognized the value of non-fiction in our curricula. As an English Class Food and Culture will have a bias towards non-fiction works. However we will also be study both short fiction and a novel -- Like Water for Chocolate -- that feature food as important symbols or motifs. Additionally, all students will have required independent reading projects throughout the year based in this evolving reading list.

(Second Parental Warning: Part of the theory behind this class is that food is a vital part of our culture. Since our culture is embedded in the communities that we live in, I will ask your students to make observations and conduct research in their community and surrounding neighborhoods. Alternative assignments can be arranged.)

At the Zartler on GrantHS.com web page, you can also find my Food and Culture Blog. The blog is vital to your student's success. The blog is primarily designed to help students track what they missed (or forgot that they didn't miss) in class. I generally ask students to "check the blog" as a first step when they have missed class. However, they may need to follow up with me for handouts or other activities. (Interestingly, some parents have found the blog a useful cure for the short lived question, "What did you do in school today?" You can also use the "What's Cooking" entries as a place to have conversations.)

If you have concerns that I don't have time or that are not appropriate to address now, please contact me as soon as possible.

Again, thank you for being part of your student's education and the Grant Community.

Finally, many Grant families have been generous in their support of materials and books for this class. The sense of being a community in part represented by this generous spirit is what helps make Grant a great place.

Wish list: flatware, paper products, mixing and serving bowls, and "Vintage" cookbooks are currently the highest priority.

What's Cooking: Thursday, 27 September, 2012

What's cooking: an occassional supplement to Mr. Zartler's Food and Culture class blog.

NOT a Celebration of Whole Grains

My friend Mary Rodeback taught me this amazing recipe. We like it with steak -- as Mark Bittman says, when you're going to have a good time eating, enjoy!

Saute two heads of spinach with

some ham stock, as the spinach wilts

add 4 oz of (or more) or cream cheese and

a handful of Gorgonzola.

Enjoy!

Parent note participation time:

What are some cultural questions or insights that may come from studying this recipe?

Tuesday, 25 September

In class today we reviewed that there is a quiz on vocabulary words on Thursday; part of the quiz is for students to have a planner or planning device.

Mr. Zartler also went over the requirement that all students have a book to read for an independent reading project. That list is available online. Students may need to use resources such as Multnomah County Library to access books from the list.

The class reviewed the areas of knowledge that we used to analyze the "How Carrots Won the Trojan War" piece.

The areas of knowledge that we will use for the next article are:
Agriculture
Arts, Culture, & Religion
Eating and Cooking
Economics and Business
Health
History and Social Science
"Jeopardy Knowledge"
Science

HOMEWORK:
Every student got a handout of the chapter "Corn Causes Vampires." The class read and discussed the introduction together. For homework students are expected to pre-read the piece by first reading all the topic sentences. Then all students should do a quick read of the entire piece for Thursday.

Tuesday, 25 September

Class began with writing a scene between the writer and the character for whom they wrote a diary entry for homework.

After writing, writers shared.

Next the class read the story "That Girl." We had a long discussion about issues raised by the story:  the nature of conflict in fiction; the role of stereotypes in fiction, and others. Writers who missed class should get a copy from Mr. Zartler as we will be doing a detailed analysis of the story in class on Thursday.

The last part of class was spent studying ten elements of story telling. Writers should get a handout from Mr. Zartler. As this will be a vital reference.

Monday, 24 September

Today in class we discussed the Mark Bittman lecture that many of us attended.

We spent considerable time on his assertion that we need to make it harder to buy "bad" food and easier to buy "good" food. Part of the conversation was focused around the tension between viewing government as having a strong role in helping people and solving societal problems on the one hand and on the preeminence of personal liberty and choice on the other hand (stereotypically policies of the Democrats and Republicans respectively).

Next the class watched a Bittman video clip demonstrating a savory breakfast of wheat berries and scallions. Then we discussed if and how this recipe reflected Bittman's concept of "Food that Matters."

Remember that there is a vocabulary quiz on Thursday; part of the grade for the quiz will be for each student to demonstrate that he or she has a planning device.

Thursday, 20 September

Field Trip Update: I apologize, but the bus back from Mark Bittman tonight will be arriving at Grant later than originally expected. Expect to return to Grant at 9:40 pm. Students should meet on Grant's front steps by 6:00 pm tonight!

In class today groups presented their analysis of Bittman's writing. Students took notes individually. Then each person came up with at least one summative comment or big question related to Bittman's writing.

VOCABULARY: There will be a vocabulary quiz next Thursday. The words agriculture - unctuous from our list will be on the quiz.

Mr. Zartler shared the Wednesday, 20 September blog entry. He stated that students should make a habit of reviewing the blog regularly, and to encourage this regular checking of the blog he would sometimes post a "What's Cooking" entry, sometimes provide simple extra credit tasks, etc.

Mr. Zartler also explained that beginning next week students would have an independent reading project based on a reading list they will get next week.

Wednesday, 20 September, 2012

What's cooking: an occassional supplement to Mr. Zartler's Food and Culture class blog.

What's cooking

My mother-in-law is visiting; she loves a good steak from time to time. So I made Bistecca for her.

Now if your Italian is good, you know that I just wrote, "I made steak for her." So let me be a bit more precise. I made Bistecca all Fiorrentina for her (and, well, for me!). That is, I made a steak preparation that is popular in the Tuscany region of Italy. (Fierenze is the Italian for the capital of Tuscany, the city we call Florence).

The breed of cattle most common in Tuscany are called Chianina. They are white.

I don't think my meat came from a white Italian cow, and in cooking one often has to make substitutions. There are two main concepts to the dish that make it Tuscan style.

The first is that a thick cut of steak, a Porterhouse is traditional, is used.

The steak is grilled at first over a very hot fire, then moved off the hot flames to finish cooking over lower heat.  The idea is to strongly brown the outsides of the steaks (what chemical reaction is being used here?) while leaving much of the interior rare or medium rare.

This photo shows how a Fiorentina steak looks. The browning is a result of the Maillard Reaction.

The second aspect of the preparation is that an olive oil is used as the steak sauce. Before grilling the meat is typically seasoned with salt and pepper. Different recipes suggest different ways to season this olive oil (see, it's kinda hard to go totally wrong in cooking because everyone has different tastes). Some say just pour excellent olive oil on the steak, but most season the olive oil. Some use rosemary, others some lemon. I put some cloves of garlic, and green pepper corns in my olive oil over night, and added some lemon peal to the oil a bit before serving it.

One thing to realize is that a Porterhouse is a pretty expensive cut of meat. If you wanted to try something similar you could use any steak suitable for grilling (a sirloin for example). Some people (including me) prefer a steak with a bone in it because they think that they have a richer taste. I normally get my mother-in-law a New York Strip steak because it is her (and my wife's favorite cut). A New York has less fat than a Porterhouse or Rib-eye. But one does give up a bit of lovely unctuousness  (look a new vocabulary word) with the leaner (and healthier?) cut? The strip steak pictured below has more marbling (fat between the strands of meat) than many, so it doesn't show the difference the way I'm used to thinking of it.

Bone in New York Strip

Bone in Rib-eye

In class as we discuss this entry, we will discuss possible side dishes and beverages to serve with Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

We might also talk about the parts of a cow.....

If Tuscany intrigues you, you can read Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. Her memoir (made into a film) includes recipes.

Bon Appetit!
Mr. Z

Tuesday, 18 September, 2012

Field Trip: Students should be at Grant at 6:00 pm on Thursday for the Mark Bittman Trip; the bus will return to Grant at 9:00 pm. A few students have not yet returned their permission forms -- please do so immediately.

Class began with students sharing their homework. After each student shared their responses to the introduction to Food Matters, other students asked them questions and challenged their conclusions.

The class reviewed SOAPS+Claim.

The class then divided into new groups to analyze the sections of the first chapter of Food Matters. Each group is responsible for presenting to the rest of the class their analysis of the section. Presentations began in class and will continue on Thursday.

All students should have read the entire hand out for class on Thursday.

Monday, 17 September, 2012

Permission slips for the Mark Bittman field trip on Thursday, 20 September were collected. Those students who have not yet turned in their slip should do so on Tuesday.

First period shared the examples of facts from various subject areas of knowledge.

Second and third period students made a list of foods that they had eaten in the last few days. From that list each student choose a "Yeah!" a "meh...." or a "Uck!". This eating experience was the prompt for a short writing assignment. Some students shared their writing.

Students were shown the Table of Contents of Food Matters and asked to make predictions of what the text will cover.

Mr. Zartler reminded the class of SOAPS + Claim

Subject

Occasion

Author / Audience

Purpose

Significance

+ Claim

These are topics to consider when reading non-fiction material such as the excerpts from Food Matters that were handed out in class.

Students were asked consider SOAPS+Claim as they read the introduction to Food Matters; each student received a the introduction and a selection from the beginning of the text. After finishing the reading of the introduction, students are to write a response to the reading. Questions addressed in the response could include: 

Does the content match your expectations?

Do Bittman's ideas strike you as right or wrong?

Does the text seem to have anything to offer you?

Does the content address of of the questions you developed last week.

Bring the response to class on Tuesday.

Thursday, 13 September

In class today students received permission slip forms for Mark Bittman. The Mark Bittman trip is is Thursday, September 20. Be at Grant by 6:05 for a 6:20 departure.

Class began with a sharing of questions that students developed as homework.

After sharing questions Mr. Zartler explained how people learn using this diagram

The class discussed how reading the article "How Carrots Won the Trojan War" was difficult because many students did not have enough "file cabinets and file folders" in their brain to place the new information. To make filing the new information easier the class divided knowledge into the following categories

Next students were placed in groups to skim and scan the carrot essay for examples of knowledge from one of the fields of knowledge defined above. Finally each group shared their examples, and students added new knowledge to a chart included new facts and a label showing what area of knowledge that fact belonged to.

Next week the class will study some essays by Mark Bittman to learn what some of the major issues our culture has with food in his opinion.

Tuesday, 11 September, 2012

Class began with a focus on vocabulary:

ag·ri·cul·ture   [ag-ri-kuhl-cher]

noun 1. the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming.

hor·ti·cul·ture 

noun 1. the cultivation of a garden, orchard, or nursery; the cultivation of flowers, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants.

ter·roir  [ter-wahr; Fr. ter-war]

noun 1. the environmental conditions, especially soil and climate, in which grapes are grown and that give a wine its unique flavor and aroma: the high quality of the region’s terroir.

trophic level 

noun Ecology any class of organisms that occupy the same position in a food chain, as primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers.

Maillard Reaction

chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar. E.g. "browning" during cooking which adds complex flavors.

Bechamel -- "White sauce" or "cream sauce"; butter, flour, milk (and salt & pepper); the beginning point for many sauces.

Haggis -- traditional Scottish dish consisting of heart, liver, and lungs of a calf or sheep (and spices).

offal -- organs or other non-muscle parts of an animal.

After practicing vocabulary the class returned to the article on the Middle Eastern church celebrating it's culture through food. Mr. Zartler made that claim the statement, "There's no such thing as Syrian food or Jordanian food or Palestinian food. It's all Middle Eastern food," is an example that traditional foods are a product of geography. Other examples include salmon being a staple of the diets of the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest; bison (buffalo being a staple of the natives of the plains, e.g. Arapaho, Apache, Commanche, etc.).

The last in-class activity involved reading "Chapter Five in which Carrots Win The Trojan War" from the book How Carrot Won the Trojan War. Students took notes on interesting facts and significant new information about carrots AND what areas of knowledge (e.g. geography, biology, horticulture) were accessed in the article.

Homework: students were given this blog address. They are to come to this blog and find their other homework assignment which is this:

Make a list of at least twenty questions you have about food; food and how it relates to culture; cooking; agriculture; and the economics of food. Bring these questions to class on Thursday.

Monday, 10 September, 2012

In class today we first made a list of memories that had to do with food and eating.

Then everyone wrote about one (1) of those memories. We tried to write about both our feelings and thoughts and with attention to sensory (sight; sound; touch; taste; and smell) details.

We read an article in yesterday's Oregonian about one linkage between food and culture.

Mr. Zartler pointed out the connection at least local of middle eastern descent make between who they are culturally, and the food that they traditionally eat.

Students also had a chance to sign up to attend a free field trip on Thursday, 20 September to hear the famous food writer Mark Bittman at his Literary Arts lecture. Thank you to Literary Arts for donating the tickets and transportation!

Course Introduction

Welcome to one of Grant's new English class: Food & Culture.

I'm very excited to be teaching this new course; I think we will all learn a lot and have a good time.

This blog is where I will try to post assignments in order to help you be successful. If you want to enlist the support of your parents and other loved ones, you can share the blog address with them: http://foodandcultureghs.blogspot.com .

The course syllabus is available for view at:  http://www.pps.k12.or.us/depts-c/otl/syllabus/2012-13/10878 

Students in Food & Culture are very luck to have been invited to attend the Portland Arts & Lectures event featuring food writer Mark Bittman on Thursday, September 20th.

Food & Culture is a class that will focus (ok this is a bit obvious) on the relationship between food and culture!

We will read a variety of non-fiction and fiction (with an emphasis on non-fiction). Students will write in  a variety of analytical and expository modes as well as creative non-fiction and poetry.

Students will be expected to do independent research and observations in the community. A journal will be an important part of recording observations and learnings about food.

All students will be expected to show an ability to earn a passing score on the test for the Multnomah County Food Handler's Card exam -- though students will NOT have to obtain the card.

Every student in upper level English classes at Grant write a Junior or Senior Research Thesis, and students in Food & Culture are no exception.

Over the course of the year students will investigate a wide variety of issues.

Mr. Zartler can be reached by email at jzartler@pps.net . His phone number at school is 503.916.5160 x75700.