A new dish has been added to the mental menu of RUHS’s Culinary Arts students: Chinese mooncakes. A collaboration between the Chinese and Culinary Arts classes that occurred on Oct. 9 and Oct. 10 in the Culinary Arts Classroom blended the cultural history of the Mid-Autumn Festival with the science of baking.
The idea to bring the two classes together was sparked last school year by Chinese teacher Cathy Wang and Culinary Arts teacher Christina Martin, who loved the idea of bringing their classes together.
“[We] wanted to do something fun and meaningful that connects culture and food. Something students can really experience, not just read about. We started planning over the summer and it turned into this great collaboration,” Wang said. “The Mid-Autumn festival is one of the biggest traditional holidays in Chinese culture, kind of like Thanksgiving. It’s all about family, reunion and being grateful.”
According to senior Olivia Loubert, one of Wang’s students, the history of mooncakes was not only very interesting to learn about, but fun to teach to the Culinary students as well.
“[Mooncakes] are a traditional, pastry-like dessert in the Mid-Autumn Festival and there’s a whole bunch of different variations. We are making a more modern version at the moment but there are so many different designs and recipes,” Loubert said. “We don’t usually get to do things like collaborations with other classes, so this is a really fun opportunity.”
According to Martin, the experience was both enjoyable and educational for both classes, as each period saw students laughing together and helping each other with the mooncakes. Since this was their very first collaboration, however, there were some minor mishaps.
“There were some funny moments when we had a couple of groups that accidentally put a little too much water or something in their dough. We were able to fix it easily with the proportions, and it did take them a while to recover, but they were having a lot of fun. They even started making any extra dough into little shapes, which was adorable,” Martin said. “With the ingredients we ordered, all the instructions were in Chinese, which I cannot read, so Ms. Wang translated it. But by the end of it, the recipe kind of evolved to fit what everyone could understand, which was beautiful.”
Both teachers agreed that while food is a very large and defining part of any culture, it can also be a glue that binds several groups together. Martin saw this activity as an opportunity to both showcase this phenomenon to her students and to broaden their culinary knowledge.
“In every culture, food is a unifying factor, especially in the society we live in today: a global, international market. So it’s really important for their students to have this experience, but also for my students to really understand this global market, where fusion cuisine and thinking about respecting and understanding other cultures is so crucial. It is also important that they always understand what they’re mixing, so that they can do it in a respectful way where everyone feels supported and honored,” Martin said.
After having an overall amazing experience with the activity, Wang and Martin plan “to collaborate again” and potentially turn it into an even larger event to include students from as many different programs and courses as possible. Wang especially loved the activity and is “very pleased with its success.”
“When students tried stamping the mooncakes, a few came out looking pretty creative at first, but they laughed and helped each other, and by the end, they were so proud of their mooncakes. It was a great reminder that learning can be joyful and a little messy too,” Wang said. “It’s such a great way to bring students together across subjects and learn about culture, food, teamwork, and appreciation, all at the same time.”
