One of the best ways to introduce culture and language into your home is through the kitchen. Everyone learns to love something that is the source of delicious meals and snacks. Whether your children are learning another language or just stretching their linguistic wings, cooking is the perfect time to explore the globe through language.
Cook together and pick recipes from all over the world. Talk about the origin of recipes, why people cook the way they do in other cultures. Then name each ingredient in the language of the people who invented it. From toddlers to teenagers, cooking together is a great way to learn. Let's take a look at six multicultural recipes that are easy enough to cook with kids and will bring language to your kitchen.
Spanish: Soft and Crunchy Tacos
Everyone loves a delicious meal of tacos. Crunchy or soft, spicy or mild, tacos are the ultimate in hand food. Kids love tacos and most kids are crazy about taco night. Make it even more special by putting tacos together as a family and naming each ingredient in Spanish along the way.
Ingredients
Ground Beef
Carne molida
Seasoning
Condimento
Lettuce
Lechuga
Tomatoes
Tomates
Shredded Cheese
Queso rallado
Crunchy Taco Shells
Tacos crujientes
Flour or Corn Tortillas
Tortillas de harina o maiz
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 F
Pan-fry the ground beef (or other meats) until browned and fully cooked.
Chop lettuce and tomatoes
Lay foil on a cookie sheet. Place crunchy shells and soft tortillas, line each with cheese along the fold.
Place the sheet of shells and tortillas in the oven.
Add taco seasoning and 1-2 tablespoons of water. Let the water cook down and infuse the meat with flavor.
Remove the shells and tortillas, then distribute them onto plates.
Load each taco with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and a sprinkle of cheese.
French: Mini Breakfast Quiche
Quiche is one of the most simple and delicious French recipes in your cookbook. It's really very simple: Quiche is an omelet pie. If you can make a delicious omelet with your kids (or just delicious scrambled eggs) then you can make a delicious quiche. Explain the strange name and explore the French names for each ingredient as you put them together.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough (optional)
Pate a patisserie
Eggs
Des oeufs
Milk
Lait
Cheese
Fromage
Diced Protein
Proteine en des
Ham, Bacon, Feta, Tofu, Scallions, etc.
Chopped Vegetables
legumes haches
Mushrooms, Spinach, Tomatoes, Onion, etc.
Directions
Preheat the Oven to 350 F
Grease a muffin pan and line each cup with pastry dough. This can be pie crust, premade dough, or croissant roll dough.
Sprinkle in meat and vegetables into each cup
Fill each cup with egg
Top each cup with cheese
Bake 25-30 minutes
German: Deviled Eggs - Gefüllte Eier
Deviled eggs are hard-boiled eggs with a creamy kick. In fact, most families don't realize that this Easter classic has deep roots with the German people. They have a unique name for the recipe and introduced sprinkling paprika onto egg-yolks mixed with mustard. If your kids love to make deviled eggs, turn this treat into an all-year recipe by practicing the german names for each ingredient.
Ingredients
Eggs
Eir
Mustard
Senf
Mayo
Mayonaise
Salt and Pepper
Salz und Pfeffer
Paprika
Paprika
Optional
Dill or Sweet Relish
Tartar Sauce
Sour Cream
Onions
Directions
Hard-boil the eggs, give them an extra few minutes to boil quite-hard.
Peel each egg and slice it in half, longwise.
Scoop the hard yolk from each egg, carefully keeping the egg whites from breaking
Mix the egg yolks with mustard, salt, pepper, and mayo or a mayo substitute. Mix additional ingredients if preferred
Re-fill egg whites with deviled egg mixture
Top with sprinkled paprika
Irish: Shepherd's Pie
Shepherd's pie is filling and nutritious in a way that only very practical traditional foods can be. Stacked with all the good things a meal needs in one dish, kids love shepherd's pie. You can't go wrong with beef, mashed potatoes, and cheese. Enjoy the traditional recipe and Irish names for ingredients or mix it up and look up the Irish words for anything you add.
Ingredients
Ground Beef
Mairteoil Talun
Peas, Carrots, and Corn
Pisaenna, Caireid, agus Corn
Onions
Oiniuin
Worcestershire Sauce
Anlann Worcestershire
Seasoning
Seasue
Mashed Potatoes
Bruitin
Cheese
Cais
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 F
Brown and break up ground beef in a pan
Fry chopped vegetables with the beef. Add Worcestershire sauce and seasoning to taste.
Load a casserole dish or muffin cups with beef-vegetable mixture
Top casserole or cups with mashed potatoes
Sprinkle with cheese
Bake for 30 minutes
English: Hand Pies
Every culture has hand-held recipes and in the UK islands, the favorite is definitely hand-pies. For children practicing English, explore the names of pastry dough, and name the fruit in the filling. Talk about street vendors singing about their pies and how hand-pies are an important part of traditional life in both rural and city England.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough
Fruit Filling
Meat Filling
Cooked and minced
Butter
Directions
Preheat Oven to
Shape dough into flat circles the size of a spread-out hand
Add 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the center of each dough circle
Fold each dough circle in half and press the edges together
Brush the tops with butter, line pinched crusts with foil
Bake for 20-30 minutes
Japanese: Sushi (Philadelphia) Rolls
Sushi is the single most recognizable meal from Japan and something every kid can enjoy. Both a refined entree and a healthy finger-food, practice Japanese with your children while rolling your own sushi rolls.
Ingredients
Short Grain White Rice
Sushi to Gohan
Seaweed Sheets
Nori
Fresh Raw Salmon
Furesshusamon
Avocado
Abokado
Stick of Cream Cheese
Kruimuchizu
Directions
Cook 2-3 cups of sticky white rice
Slice thin strips of sushi-grade raw salmon
Slice equally thin strips of avocado
Lay out one sheet of nori seaweed on a bamboo rolling mat
Distribute an even layer of sticky rice over the nori
Lay salmon in a line down the center of your rice, same direction as your bamboo mat sticks are pointing
Lay avocado in a line next to the salmon
