Culinary Arts Project Ideas
Teaching middle and high school students about charcuterie boards keep them engaged because they are a popular snack. Charcuterie boards are all the rage and students like to learn about the history of the tasty boards and of course, they love to make them.
Did you know that the word “charcuterie” comes from the French words for flesh (chair) and cooked (cuit). French shops during the 1400s were called charcutiers because they sold cooked or salted meats and cheeses to be served at a later date by those that purchased it.
Ideas to bring charcuterie boards into the middle school and high school classroom:
1- Holiday or Themed Charcuterie Boards– Charcuterie boards are very popular and middle and high school students love the chance to make their own. What is nice about these platters is that you can make holiday and seasonally themed boards. You can have students create a Spring or Easter-themed board, Thanksgiving board, Christmas-themed board, even a Summer themed board. Honestly, I think a dessert charcuterie board is the best…layer it up with chocolate and are we really going to share?
Melissa Litherland’s FACS class in Wisconsin
2- Create a board step by step. This is a great option for first-time Charcuterie board makers or if you only have a limited amount of food. We mise en place the ingredients and supplies and make sure to have cheeses, crackers, fruits, nuts, etc. and let the kids make their own boards. You can cut costs by purchasing cheese sticks that they can cube, pepperoni sticks they can cut, cheap pretzels, etc. They can even use paper plates. Aldi’s has a nice selection of items to purchase a lot of the charcuterie ingredients as it is reasonably priced and has a variety of cheeses and crackers.
This is a nice and simple video on how to make a beautiful board that you can show your students.
3- A Virtual Charcuterie Board– if you are teaching from home or want to give students a chance to try their hand at a board but don’t have the means to make them in the classroom, this digital charcuterie board lesson and activity is a lot of fun. Students read about the history of charcuterie boards, take notes from a slideshow and answer questions. They then then drag and drop ingredients onto their boards in Google! You can check it out in our TPT store, Twins and Teaching.
Giving students some freedom to create their own boards is a great way to see their creative abilities. It is also a nice way to build classroom community because you can have them work in groups and give feedback on each other’s boards. You can also have them draw their designs if they want to before moving on to preparing real boards.
Check out the charcuterie board our kids made for a Buffalo Bills game with the buffalo shaped cutting boards they made in technology:
4- Show videos on charcuterie boards – Showing students how they are made can be a great way to inspire them. This video by Babish shows how he chooses the right ingredients and how he balances the board for aesthetics and taste.
Are you looking for more Culinary Arts and Prostart projects? Check out our Gourmet Ramen Challenge blog post.
