We began our tomato unit with a tomato juicing activity. In our groups, we rinsed, cored, and cut tomatoes. Each group assembled their own tomato juicer and hand-juiced tomatoes. Each group kept their tomato juice separate, and we stored them for future use. Shortly after the juicing activity, we did a seasoning tasting lab. We tasted five different herbs, five spices, four types of salt, and five different kinds of oil. In doing this, it gave us an opportunity to see which seasonings as a group we liked and disliked, which further allowed us to customize our sauce however we wished. Groups were also given the option to use seasonings that we did not taste. After trying seasonings, each group created their own recipe for what they wanted to use in their sauce. My group used ingredients such as sweet onion, garlic, basil, oregano, etc. However, other groups chose to use ingredients such as red pepper flakes, and some groups even put different meats in their sauce. Our sauce was created using the tomato juice from the first tomato activity. It started as just the juice, but we had the option to cook it down as long as we saw fit. The longer you cook down the sauce, the ticker it will be. Each group was shown a basic pasta recipe, which included eggs, flour, olive oil, and salt. We each had to make, cut, and cook our dough. We had the option to make garlic bread or other types of bread, but we were not required to do so. When being graded, we were graded on the texture of pasta, flavor of sauce, bread texture and taste (if it was made), and plating.
After our pasta activity, we moved on to salsa. We all made a very simple but delicious salsa recipe. Each group washed and cut tomatoes, peppers, and onions. After each group cut their individual portions, we combined them into one large bowl for serving. For the salsa activity, we were graded on cutting/knife skills. After creating the salsa, we learned how to can and store items. We used the leftover salsa as the item for canning. When an item is canned, it can be stored for years. You should always properly seal and label your cans for storage.
