The Pocantico Hills Central School District welcomed Chef Giovanni Green of Break Bread Not Hearts as part of its Black History Month celebration.
The entrepreneur and educator cooked with middle school students for four days, leading hands-on cooking sessions that focused on plant-based meals. The chef worked with them on what he calls “food literacy.” He shared his philosophy that love is always the main ingredient in recipes, and that cooking is a great way to build community.
In the sessions, Chef Green and students cooked pancakes, scrambled eggs, and home fries made with purple potatoes, chickpeas, green peppers and corn. He also set the cafeteria lunch menu, which was grilled cheese, All Yum Autumn Soup, and sweet potato, black-eyed pea and roasted corn salad with grapes.
Fifth-grader Sanaya Bremmer said she enjoyed learning from a professional chef. She also liked what he told students about the importance of nutrition and healthy food.
Fifth-grader Daniel Minchala learned about adding vinegar to pancake batter to make them fluffy. The chef showed the students how to crack an egg on the counter, which many of them tried as they made scrambled eggs. “He’s amazing. He’s a great cook,” said fifth-grader Daniel Minchala. “He teaches everything, so like when other people don’t even know how to cook, they get some strategies from Chef Giovanni, like cracking an egg and all that fun stuff.”
