On Thursday, Year 11 Food and Nutrition students began exploring the influence of Chinese culture and food on New Zealand's eating patterns.

For our achievement standard next term we are telling "The Dunedin Story". It is unique, with the importing of the first Chinese ingredients by ship during the Gold Rush. Some parents and many grandparents, will recall the Chinese fruit shops in Dunedin. Today there is still a strong presence of Chinese eating establishments and wholesalers in Dunedin. In 2022, many of the meal box subscriptions contain some of these original ingredients. Recipes have been adapted to suit modern tastes, available ingredients and lifestyle.

In our morning session, groups of students prepared six recipes from six different New Zealand cookbooks on a Chinese theme. Students cooked and plated up sixteen portions (the number of students present). Students enjoyed sampling these over an early lunch and the challenge of using chopsticks.

In the afternoon session, it was a brisk walk to Toitū to look at photographs and displays of equipment and utensils used for cooking over time. Students completed a Mai Kā Takata Migration Timeline. The preparation of food by Maori, European and Chinese were compared. We finished our first day of immersion with a walk and afternoon tea at Lan Yuan- Dunedin Chinese Garden. The boys had no difficulty consuming fortune cookies and green tea.

The next steps in our learning will be researching, making and comparing traditional Chinese foods with modern adapted recipes.

If anyone in our school community would like to come in and share their family's story of food and culture or do a traditional cooking demonstration, we would love to hear from you.

 Please email jacqueline.irving@obhs.school.nz