FUSION: Tikka Masala at School Today - by Shirley Sokol
In southern Arizona you will find a large city with a small-town feel, where barrios have survived for hundreds of years and reside as neighbors to 10,000 ft. urban greenhouses or perhaps a fiber optic facility. This complex region of mountains, prickly pear, saguaro forests and a second biosphere sustain the history and the future of the Sonoran Desert.
Tucson, once inhabited by Paleo-Indians in 10,000 B.C., sits 30 minutes from the border of Mexico and hosts the Catalina Mountains (part of the Rockies) as well as the University of Arizona. Tucson offers more than a beautiful rugged landscape; it holds the warmth of the sun and the diverse community.
Tucson Unified School district is the oldest public school district in the region. The oldest high school (Tucson High School) started in 1906 with 45 students, today it holds just under 3000. At its peak, TUSD operated 110 schools, today, 86 K-12 schools. TUSD is the face of Tucson as it holds on to historical significance, while trying it’s best to move forward in the world of modern public education.
A few years ago, the TUSD food services team honored their student customers by developing a FUSION menu program, designed to celebrate culture through food. The menu was initially designed for high school students and as it grew in popularity it was tamed a bit for the younger palette and FUSION JR. was born.
As the FUSION program was expanding, the food service team, to include creative chefs as well as food and nutritional professionals, created an International Culinary Showcase event that included students and their families from Catalina High School. The high school was an international melting pot of students from over 30 countries; what better place to honor the diversity of TUSD and the cultures represented within its classrooms. With the goal of bringing the fun back to food, celebrating cultural diversity and to nudge the students into trying global cuisine with innovative design and flavor. The team soon set out to meet with a dozen or more families. They wanted to know what the student’s favorite meal was from their family’s country of origin, and review if it could be considered as a district-wide menu item. Keeping in mind of course, that all meals served within the guidelines of the USDA Federal Meal Program must fall within strict nutritional requirements and present as marketable to as many of the 50,000 students as possible…….a challenge was born.
The food services team wanted to promote fresh produce and to ensure each dish was presented in a quality format. Whether they redesigned a historic dish or a modern trendy dish, it was important that the students liked what was presented. Each FUSION dish was tested with nearly 200 students and was required to pass by a 75% minimum favorable vote before placing it on the district-wide menu.
At the showcase, one hundred or more top school. city and chef officials were present to sample each dish and score their favorite. Culinary students from the high school worked in unison with the food services team to prepare the dish “samplers” as international clubs entertained the large crowd, sitting at round tables, formally set in the cafeteria with dance, song and traditional attire. One of the top city boutique hotel restaurant chefs joined in, as they planned to offer the winning dish at the hotel for the following month. What an honor for the student and family that worked with the team to develop the dish that represented not only their family, but their country of origin.
The following eight international dishes, redesigned (a bit) and prepared by students and food service professionals included a variety of flavors and spices……all developed to meet USDA nutrition and operation processes, which, hold safety and quality of ingredients at the top.
LET’S EXPLAIN THE DISH
Honduras – Pastelitos: Historically, this dish is considered a Central American meat pie. The corn meal based dough was filled with ground beef and white rice, seasoned with paprika and cilantro. The TUSD family used an uncooked tortilla rather than a fried meat pie format. In the FUSION design, they structured a flavorful cornmeal whole grain polenta cup as the vessel to hold the seasoned beef filling. They kept the paprika and added cumin, garlic and potatoes to bulk up the calories.
Iraq-Biryani: This dish was designed to simmer morsels of chicken in a creamy, spicy blend of onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, tomatoes, yogurt, mint cardamom and cinnamon. It is finished using a sauté method with basmati rice and potatoes. For FUSION, they wanted to add a little color and texture. They kept the traditional seasonings – however – instead of sautéing the chicken in a spicy blend, they separated the cardamom to add to the rice only. They also added textural sliced almonds and colorful dried cranberries to the rice. When they sprinkled vermicelli into the mix and drizzled the yogurt on top rather than mixing it within, they couldn’t take their eyes off the unique and flavorful dish.
Pakistan – Aloo Pakora: You may substitute Aloo (potato) with chicken for your pakora dish. This typically fried dish shaped in oblong patties features chili powder, potatoes and lentil flour. The FUSION team replaced the flour with lentil beans and rounded the patties to assist with proper portion size. They also added a parsley-feta rice as a base.
Mexico – Avocado ‘n’ Pinto Enchiladas: As we know, avocados are rather expensive. With that in mind, rather than using sliced avocados as called for in the original recipe, they used a fresh avocado puree and mixed it with a pinto bean and queso fresco cheese mix with a tad of lime juice. They added the standard whole grain tortilla and enchilada sauce.
Nepal – Shrimp Momo: This popular Napoli steamed dumpling dish can be filled with just about anything. A momo may be filled with lamb, chicken, veggies, shrimp, and pork or ricotta cheese. They often lean towards an Asian cuisine profile using spicy soy sauce or a sesame tomato sauce combination. You can even stuff a momo with barbequed meat. The FUSION version does not use a steamed dumpling. Unfortunately, they do not have the operation design to do so. Since the FUSION customers love shrimp, they created a shrimp momo, complete with the traditional cabbage mixture and seasonings nestled in a lettuce wrap with a sprinkle of baked won ton crisps. This created a light, flavorful dish that will be accompanied by a grain.
Somalia – Sambusa: This popular dish is often served at weddings and parties. A seasoned ground beef mixture is wrapped in a cone shaped spring roll and deep fried. To keep variety in the FUSION menu, they lightly sprayed a bit of olive oil on a whole grain flour tortilla, filled with the beef filling and traditional seasonings and turned it into a sambusa flauta, garnished with diced jalapenos and a sauce.
Puerto Rico – Pork Empanada: This dish was the closest one to resemble the traditional dish format. The twist to this dish is that they used a whole- grain biscuit dough to form the wrapper and showcased a plantain dipping sauce.
Ukraine – Verenyky: This savory or sweet stuffed dumpling dish is considered a national dish. The dish shares a few similarities to the Polish pierogi; however, it is boiled not baked. Verenyky is normally stuffed with meat or cheese and served with fried onions and sour cream. The popular sweet version features cherries inside the dumpling.
The WINNER of the showcase was the Shrimp Momo!!!!
Established FUSION dishes promoted at the showcase included:
Caribbean – Lime in the Coconut Chicken: The FUSION team enjoyed working with cilantro. It is not only popular in the Arizona region; it is used frequently in recipes around the world. This island FUSION dish featured rice, chicken, coconut and cilantro.
Peru – Lomo Saldato: The FUSION version uses chicken rather than beef in this traditional dish dating back to the early 1900’s. It originated as part of the Chinese cuisine of Peru known as the chifa tradition. Lomo Saltado typically consists of marinated strips of steak or chicken sautéed with vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and peppers and served on top of rice and French fries.
Italy – Inside Out Lasagna: A FUSION twist to an Italian traditional dish – turn it inside out! Part of the FUSION format was to create innovative presentations. The team took the challenge to create dishes that might be upside down or inside out as they did with this hearty and tasty Italian dish. Lasagna is considered one of the oldest forms of pasta. An “Inside Out” lasagna dish is a new take on a historic favorite.
Malaysia – Malaysia Beef Flatbread Pizza: Pizza with slaw? A few years back, this was not a common occurrence. The FUSION team tossed broccoli slaw on top of flatbread pizza to hike up the nutrient value, texture and color. Broccoli is packed with as much calcium as a glass of milk, in addition to offering other vitamins and minerals. It is no wonder broccoli consumption has increased worldwide by 940% over the past 25 years!
Scottish – Shepherd’s Pie: A Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie, originated in the United Kingdom several hundred years ago. It was originally created as a way to use leftover meat of any kind. The FUSION team took a twist to the format and placed the filling in a bread bowl. The students enjoyed the lighter version of this time-tested dish.
U.S. Regional – Chicken & Waffles: In the 1930’s, a well- known restaurant in Harlem, the Well’s Supper Club, first served this tasty dish. Today, chicken and waffles can be found in a wide variety of modern eating establishments. Instead of serving a waffle with sweet syrup, the FUSION version offers a savory waffle with a spicy syrup……..the students loved it!!!
The dishes listed are just a short list of what the FUSION team at TUSD created over the past few years. They took the respect they had for the district’s students and their customers and showcased it from taking international historic cuisine to the lunch table. What followed was increased participation with a frequent thank you, and students sharing their knowledge of a familiar dish with others who were curious and open to trying new things.
What a wonderful way to spark a friendly cultural conversation in the lunchroom……it can’t get much better than that!