As part of a cooking project, our community of students set out to create a variety of vegan tamales and traditional Mexican dishes for a community gathering called a posada. They focused on engaging all of the senses in the cooking process, using a variety of herbs and spices to add flavor and aroma to the dishes. They tasted each ingredient, expanding their palette with roasted tomatillos and jalapeños that would be added to the pozole verde.
The guides were able to weave in concepts being taught in the curriculum directly into the cooking lessons. Our unit of measurement came in handy when we prepared the tamales. A culmination of our semester’s phonic lessons came into play as we read recipes, sounded out new ingredients, and practiced newly acquired Spanish vocabulary. Science concepts, such as states of matter, chain reactions, and more were discussed and related to each cooking lesson the students were crafting.
The students started by preparing the tamales, including vegan bean and cheese tamales and jackfruit and corn tamales. One of the masas was made with coconut oil, maseca, baking soda, salt, and vegan chicken broth for added flavor. The other masa was crafted in the same manner, but with the addition of homemade guajillo sauce.
They also made pozole verde, a traditional Mexican stew typically made with chicken or pork and a variety of vegetables. We substituted pinto beans for the meat component. Pozole rojo was also prepared, using similar peppers as the guajillo sauce.
Finally, they prepared ponche, a warm fruit punch often served during the holiday season. We cut fresh sugar cane and friends were delighted to chew on it and have a deeper understanding of the source of sugar. Guava, prunes, hibiscus flowers, tejocotes, raisins, apples, pears, and cinnamon sticks rounded out the recipe.
The students worked together to cook the food in preparation for the posada, and the community came together to celebrate and enjoy the delicious dishes. The posada was a successful and memorable event, thanks in part to the hard work, creativity, and loving intention of the students in the cooking project.