Year 5 have been studying the ancient Mayans in history and reading a book called “The Corn Grows Ripe” by Dorothy Rhoads to enrich their understanding of the culture. They knew the importance of the corn and the gods in their agriculture. They also learnt how the butternut squash was hollowed out to make a water jug.
They have been learning about nutrition, healthy eating and hygiene. Next they researched the kinds of ingredients that would have been available to Mayan people and then we used these ingredients to make a Mayan style broth.
The children were regularly washing their hands as they shared utensils. The children discussed preparation techniques for different vegetables and learnt how to peel, chop, sieve and grate them, safely. They liked the colourful mixture of healthy ingredients.
Once cooked, the children learnt how to present the soup in an attractive way, adding pumpkin seeds, a twist of lime and some sage for decoration. They presented a lumpy broth in one bowl and another one with a blended version, to compare.
The children were surprised how tasty it was, and enjoyed dipping a tortilla in too.