Assignment: prepare a meal a bit beyond your usual level of culinary skill. Write about it.
Ø Describe your planning and preparations. How did you chose the menu and recipes?
Ø As you prepare the meal, taste individual ingredients, take notes and try to describe the flavors and aromas.
Ø Presentation – arrange the meal artistically and take a photo (you can email the photo)
Ø Eat it! Describe the tastes – analyze the contribution of each ingredient.
Ø Is there any cultural heritage or family context that is associated with this food?
A suggestion, especially for those new to cooking – pick a few favorite dishes and make them again and again. For more on this approach, see the DVD extras for Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003). Director Robert Rodriguez discusses making puerco pibil (the clip is also on YouTube).
A+
= vivid writing that is emotionally engaging.
A =
clear writing that conveys a good mix of detail and overview.
B =
adequate writing that lacks detail or is missing an overall perspective.
C =
generally adequate writing but incorrect or confusing use of terms
D =
incomplete work; poor writing
F =
does not meet standards for college work, but much better than zero points for
the assignment
DC Meckler
March 2008
the arts the senses & the imagination