COOKING
For international students, cooking in American kitchens poses several challenges. First, there are different ways to measure liquid and dry ingredients (e.g. teaspoon, tablespoon, ounces), temperature conversions to be aware of (the US uses the fahrenheit scale for oven temperatures), unfamiliar equipment (electric stoves and microwaves), and unfamiliar names for cooking methods (e.g. sauté, poach, bake, stir fry).
In New Mind’s three-week cooking module, students practiced the skills of measuring, chopping, frying, and baking to produce easy-to-make dishes that were affordable for a university student on a budget. The first cooking lesson introduced students to common equipment and tools needed in the kitchen along with key English vocabulary and measuring conversions. Students learned how to use flour tortillas to make quick breakfast, lunch and dessert wraps by varying the ingredients in the fillings. In the next cooking lesson, students followed a recipe to make “the best chocolate cake in the world.” They were joined by American students who were curious about all the activity and laughter taking place in their dormitory’s shared kitchen, which made for a fun intercultural experience. For our last cooking lesson, students followed online video tutorials to create easy rice bowl dishes with meat, vegetables, and eggs, which many claimed reminded them of home.