Sharjah 24: The Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF)’s Cookery Corner turned into one giant cauldron of culinary activities as budding chefs got together to learn the art of salad making as part of a healthy eating workshop.
Led by a team of professional chefs, the session titled ‘Garden-to-Table Salads’ saw a group of 16 students from different schools across UAE pick up hand-on lessons in creating colorful and delicious salads using fresh vegetables, assembling them in a glass jar and then seasoning it for a perfect epicurean finish.
"Teaching children about healthy eating habits from a young age is essential, and what better way to do it than through fun, interactive cooking-without-fire workshops like these," said instructor Lamia Msallam, one of the chefs leading the session. "The kids had a fantastic time exploring different ingredients including olive oil and cherry tomatoes and learning new culinary skills."
During the workshop, young chefs not only learned how to select fresh vegetables like cherry tomatoes, lemon, black olives, cucumber and lettuce but also washed and prepared them to create their own mini layered salads garnished with a dash of olive oil. The session also drove home the importance of incorporating fresh produce into their diets but also encouraged creativity and experimentation in the kitchen.
"We believe that teaching children to cook from scratch is an important life skill that will stay with them forever," said a parent of one of the attendees.
For Syrian Lucine Fawaz, the session was full of fun and education. “I learnt about the benefits of the vegetables and also that tomatoes are actually a fruit even though many consider it a vegetable,” said the seven-year-old student of Star International School. Meanwhile her sister Seashell loved the fact that she was able to carry a memento home. “We made the salads in special glass jars that we can use and reuse. I am glad we are able to carry it back with us,” said the 10-year-old who goes to the same school as her sister.
The Garden-to-Table Salads workshop – designed to promote healthy eating and culinary skills among young participants – was just one of the many interactive sessions taking place at SCRF.
The 12-day annual festival, being organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) at the Sharjah Expo Centre, comes to a close on May 12.
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