Garden City Public Schools

56 Cathedral Avenue

Garden City, NY 11530

Coordinator of Public Information

Catherine Knight, Ed. D.

516 478-1079

January 11, 2018

For Immediate Release:

Students Master Italian Cooking Techniques at A La Carte

By Andrea Miras, Italian teacher

On Dec. 8th and 19th, Mrs. Miras’ eighth grade Italian students cooked a sumptuous Italian meal at Á La Carte, a culinary school in Lynbrook. The trip focused on two of the five“C’s” of foreign language education according to the ACTFL standards:“Culture and Connections.” The students learned about the similarities and differences between the cuisines in northern and southern Italy, and then had a hands-on experience creating different culinary dishes.

Polly Talbott, the owner of Á La Carte, started things off by explaining the importance of cleanliness in the kitchen and provided a tutorial on how to use the different tools. Ms. Talbott also discussed each recipe the students were going to prepare and its Italian region of origin. The students were divided into groups to work together at five cooking stations:Station A students prepared bruschetta (chopped tomatoes over crusty bread);Station B students cooked gnocchi al pomodoro (potato dumplings with tomato sauce, the southern Italian way of serving gnocchi); at Station C, students cooked polenta (corn meal, served mostly in northern Italy) served with broccoli di rape; Station D students cooked chicken piccata (thin slices of chicken prepared with a sauce consisting of lemon juice, chicken broth and butter - butter is a common ingredient used in preparing the sauces in northern Italy); and Station Estudents worked on the famous tiramisù dessert (translates as ‘pick me up” because it’s so light and heavenly, yet very rich in flavor).

“It was a pleasure to see all the students working so well together,” said Mrs. Miras. “There was real teamwork as they read the recipes carefully and took turns sautéing the chicken, making the gnocchi, stirring the sauce and also whipping the milk and eggs for the dessert. The aroma from each station was incredible, and we all worked up a great appetite!When the food was ready, it was placed on beautiful serving platters. The students set the tables and enjoyed lunch together around the table. One student commented that it was ‘the best field trip ever.’Everything was absolutely BUONISSIMO!”

Caption for1-2-18IMG_7918Gnocchi.jpg:

Garden City Middle School eighth grade Italian students worked together to create gnocchial pomodoroat A La Carte.

Caption for 1-2-18IMG_7904MSTiarmisu.jpg:

The Class of 2022 displays their version of tiramisu.