French chef Serge Devesa was pleased with his latest dinner party: 100 percent approval and praise from his guests, a group of Bloomington middle school students.
"This beats anything my mom's ever made," Olson Middle School sixth-grader Blake Wright said while taking a bite of colorful ratatouille.
Blake and most of his classmates had never tried the eggplant, zucchini or squash in the ratatouille side dish. But when those veggies were presented to the students on fancy dinner plates with herbed chicken, sauteed broccoli and French baguette, they dove right in.
That's the goal of Sofitel Minneapolis hotel and its executive chef, Devesa, a native of southern France. The hotel is making the case for healthy eating in Bloomington schools by conducting cooking demonstrations to show kids nutritious food doesn't have to lack flavor or take hours to prepare.
"We're aiming to get kids excited about nutritious food so they'll go to their parents and ask for better food," said Sofitel's food and beverage director, Antoine Winckler. "We want kids to ask their parents, 'Why aren't you making ratatouille?' "
Devesa has cooked meals for about a half-dozen Bloomington classrooms so far, and hopes to reach more students in the Twin Cities soon.
"We want to show kids that vegetables are fun to cook and can be tasty," Devesa said.
Sofitel Minneapolis presented the idea to Bloomington public schools as a way for family and consumer science teachers to take their food and nutrition curriculum to the next level. There is no cost to the schools. Sofitel handles the food expense.
"This is the most fun thing we've ever done," said Helen Rockwell, the FACS, or Family and Consumer Science, teacher at Olson Middle School. "It ties together everything we're learning in class."
Devesa and Winckler are aware of how poorly many children eat, and said the problems of obesity and health problems among children often start at home when parents give up cooking fresh vegetables and turn to prepared food.
Many school cafeterias have improved their menus, said Devesa, but he'd like to spend more time in school kitchens to see where bigger improvements can be made, such as replacing canned vegetables with fresh vegetables.
During his latest classroom cooking demonstration, Chef Devesa weaved in personal stories of becoming a chef and growing up in the kitchen with his mom. Laughs erupted from the students when Devesa told them while learning how to make crApes in France, he once "flipped one right out the window."
As they ate their nutritious French meals, a sense of sophistication came over the kids and they began to have seemingly grown-up conversations about the food.
"The ratatouille has a hint of olive oil," said sixth-grader Reeve Bowling. "It's the best."
Aimee Blanchette --612-673-1715 To see more of the Star Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.startribune.com/. Copyright (c) 2008, Star Tribune, Minneapolis Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2008, Star Tribune, Minneapolis