Cooking 101
Purpose
The first term of Cooking 101 lasted for 6 weeks and was open to youth, ages 14-19. Each week, instructors guided participants in learning to cook new dishes, chosen to teach them a variety of essential cooking skills.
We aimed to meet four objectives through the Cooking 101 program:
Provide youth with basic cooking.
Increase youth’s social and community engagement and interaction.
Motivate creativity through cooking.
Explore different cuisines to encourage inclusivity and diversity.
Programming
Each week ahead of the sessions, participants received the recipe they would be cooking and a package with ingredients to their homes. Every session was dedicated to a different dish and set of skills, until the last week, when participants had the choice to present their own recipe to the group.
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Cook eggs three ways: fried, scrambled, and an omelette with home-fries.
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Malfof (Cabbage) Salad: cabbage, beet, olive oil, salt, and walnut
White Pasta: Penne Pasta, garlic cloves, alfredo pasta sauce, parmesan, and white cheddar
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Red Pasta: Penne pasta, garlic gloves, tomato and basil pasta sauce, parmesan
Rocca Salad: Rocca leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onion, chickpea, salt, sumac, olive oil, lemon
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Rice and Veggie Dish: rice, peas, carrots, ghee or butter, salt, and black pepper
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Lentil Soup: Lentils, salt, cumin, onions
Maymoniyyeh Dessert: Semolina, sugar, cinnamon, walnuts, and water
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Participants came up with their own recipes and received guidance to bring their vision to life.
Outcome
For many young people, cooking is an intimidating, but essential, skill to learn.
According to feedback Levant received after the end of the first term, Cooking 101 was a positive learning experience that motivated participants’ creativity, increased their cooking skills, and introduced them to new flavours and cuisines. This program gave participants the confidence to independently continue their learning journey to gain the skills to become more independent and take care of themselves in adulthood.
