kitchen science

My boy fancies himself a chef. Remember this delight? Last week, he started his favorite department at school, Kitchen Science. Departments are mixed grade groups who work together throughout the year on special applied learning projects. For the next six weeks, my boy will spend about six hours each week working in a home-style kitchen to focus on the science behind food, how substances interact with each other, and the importance of water, nutrition, and digestion.

On their first cooking day, guacamole was made, and my boy was impressed. He wanted to recreate the experience for our dining pleasure, and volunteered to demonstrate the recipe for your viewing pleasure.

To make guacamole, start by halving a ripe avocado.

Just slice into it with the knife until it hits the pit,



then roll the knife around the pit, preferably without slicing any of your fingers off



Then gently twist the two halves away from each other and pull apart



There is no photo of the fun pit pop, because the photographer would not let the chef do it himself. What you do is whack a big knife right into the seed so it will stick, and then rotate to release it from the lovely green flesh. Some people save the pit to throw back in with their completed guac, it is said to help retain its fresh green color. But my Mexican friends tell me that is an old wives’ tale, and I believe them. Even though they are old wives. My aunt Uffie used to let us pierce the pit with toothpics and hover it over a glass of water to encourage sprouts. That was cool, why did we never have an avocado tree? Oh yeah, Connecticut.

Scoop out the avocado guts with a spoon… you might want to save those empty, bereft shells. Keep plugging away, even when your photographer becomes distracted by her empty glass.

Mash the avocado, preferably with a giant fork (or a potato masher if you can find yours)

There, that’s better. Now, dice a tomato

Dump the tomato into the bowl, being sure to cross your arms into a very awkward and unlikely configuration, and use a really big sharp knife to entice the tomatoes off of the board



Don’t worry about letting young children use such big knives, they are usually more capable and competent than people assume.



Usually

Next, chop some red onion. I like to imagine that he is talking in a Julia Child voice, like Mike Meyer on SNL right before he lopped off his finger

Be brave if the onion fumes irritate your eyes

Don’t forget fresh garlic! Smash a clove with the side of your knife to free it from the peel, then dice that bad boy right up

If you don’t have fresh cilantro, thank your mom and Trader Joe for always having this in the freezer

Mix wildly! Then cover and refrigerate, a few hours goes a long way toward marrying the flavors.

My boy served his guac inside the little boats he had saved from the empty avocado shells!

I really need to find the dishtowel action on photoshop so I can wipe away the mess at each end of this lovely turkey enchilada. It looks like a severed limb.

Any questions?