KidBibs #LT34: Recipe for Respect: Sensational Soups!

By Kathy Rusert, B.S.
Multi-age (grades 1-3) Language Arts and First Grade (Mathematics and Science)

What better way to learn about cultural diversity on a cold winter day than with a steaming bowl of homemade--or rather, classmade--soup!

To help children learn about a variety of cultures during January, National Soup Month, I have developed a unit using a soup theme as a springboard for cultural explorations. I integrate math, language arts, social studies, and fine arts. Learning is enhanced when children use their five senses while preparing international soup recipes. Lessons about each country of origin and its people are taught. These lessons can focus on how humans use the plants and animals found in their region to meet their human needs.

Parent and Community Support
The soup unit is an excellent way to involve parents and the community in classroom activities. These "cultural consultants" are invited as guest chefs to help prepare soup and explain customs and traditions of the region being studied. They share native songs, dances, stories, artwork, and other items or activities of interest.

These resources for my classroom include retired foreign missionaries, exchange students, travel agents, Chinese restaurant owners, members of the nearby Choctaw community, German and French immigrants, retired military personnel, and the local Catholic priest, a native of Nigeria.

The international tastes and traditions showcased have been those from Latin America, China, Germany, France, Nigeria, and Italy, as well as the Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Hawaiians, and the homeless/disadvantaged cultures. Soup recipes reflective of these are provided below.

Safety First
Safety needs to be considered when cooking activities are done with children. In choosing recipes, plan ahead which parts of the recipe are age- or developmentally-appropriate for the children involved. Older children may help choose the recipe and prepare the soup entirely. However, younger children can read the recipe with some assistance with new vocabulary words, help measure ingredients, chop soft fruits and vegetables with a plastic knife, shell peanuts or peas, stir, shape dumplings, etc.

Literature Connections
Easily adapted for any age group, a soup theme naturally lends itself to a literature-based approach to teaching. Following is a sample of the many books, fiction and non-fiction, relating to soup in various countries.

Reflections
To culminate our soup unit, the children have displayed their portfolios for parents and others to see. They include recipes, maps, photographs, artwork, journal writing, and other items. One journal stated simply, "We make the best people soup."

Two books my children especially enjoyed were Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen and Button Soup. The children suggested that each one bring at least one ingredient and make Stone/Button Soup for the low income senior adult meals program. With the help of parents, we made soup to feed 125 people. This is one way I can definitely see that the soup unit has made these young people understand and accept those who have different customs and beliefs than their own.

Those steaming bowls of soup do make an excellent first course in cultural understanding. Dr. Martin Luther King would be proud.

soup
Native American Squash and Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 pounds winter squash, cubed
2 cups mixed dried beans
1 onion, chopped
2 cups ham, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:

Rinse and sort beans. In large pot add six cups of hot water to the beans and cook for about two hours. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with cornbread.

soup
Alaskan Fish Chowder

Ingredients:

2 T. margarine
1 onion, chopped
2 T. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 pound frozen cod, cut into 1-inch pieces

Directions:

Melt margarine in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper; mix well. Cook one minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add chicken broth and milk, stirring constantly. Add potatoes and carrots. Cover and cook over medium heat 10 to 15 minutes until carrots and potatoes are just tender. Stir in fish and cook 5 minutes until fish flakes with a fork. Garnish with goldfish crackers.

soup
African Peanut Soup

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, minced
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 cup margarine
2 T. all-purpose flour
2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup half-and-half
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts

Directions:

Sauté onion and celery in margarine until tender. Stir in flour. Stir in chicken broth and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce to simmer. Stir in peanut butter and half-and-half. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes longer. Top with parsley and peanuts before serving.

soup
Tiger Taco Soup from Mexico
(This was the #1 favorite!)

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground meat
1 large diced onion
1 package Taco Seasoning Mix
1 package Ranch Style Dressing Mix
3 cans stewed tomatoes
2 cans pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can yellow hominy
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans Rotel tomatoes with green chilies

Directions:

Brown meat with onion. Drain and stir in taco seasoning mix and ranch style dressing mix. Add remaining ingredients. Stir and simmer for 30 minutes until hot.

soup
Chinese Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

1 egg at room temperature
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
1/2 t. lemon juice

Directions:

Heat broth in a quart pan until boiling vigorously. Reduce the heat so the broth simmers. Break the egg into a cup. Beat with a fork just long enough to combine yolk and white. Holding the cup about 5 inches above the pan, pour a little of the beaten egg slowly into the broth. With a fork in the other hand, make wide circles in the broth. Add salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

soup
Italian Minestrone

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry great northern beans
1 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
1 potato, peeled and cubed
4 t. instant chicken bouillon cubes
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 t. dried basil, crushed
2 T. olive oil
2 T. all purpose flour
2 T. snipped parsley
grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Rinse the dry beans. In a large saucepan combine beans and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand one hour. Drain and add 5 cups fresh water. Return to boiling then reduce heat and simmer covered for one hour. Stir in cabbage, potato, bouillon granules, garlic, bay leaf, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Simmer for 25 minutes until vegetables are just tender.

In a small saucepan heat olive oil, then put in flour. Cook and stir for 7 to 8 minutes until a dark brown. Stir in about 1 cup of the hot liquid and return all to soup. Cook 1 minute then stir in parsley. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on each serving.

soup
Hawaiian Fruit Soup

Ingredients:

1 fresh pineapple, chopped
2 bananas, peeled and sliced
1 quart strawberries, sliced
1 mango, chopped
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. macadamia nuts
1 c. orange juice
1/2 c. honey
2 T. lemon juice
1 star fruit, sliced

Directions:

Combine first six ingredients in a large serving bowl or pot. Mix orange juice, honey, and lemon juice together. Pour juice mixture over fruit mixture. Stir gently. Garnish with star fruit and chill one hour.

Watch out for Chicken Feet in Your Soup by Tomie DePaola. A young boy introduces his Italian grandmother to his friend, Eugene. Her culinary skills make an impression on Eugene.

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown. In this French folktale, a hungry soldier tricks a village to get a meal.

Stone Soup by Ann McGovern. A variation of Stone Soup where a man tricks an old lady to make soup from a stone.

Button Soup by Doris Orgel. Cooperation and friendship among all cultures happens when soup is made from a button.

How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ira Freeman. An American sailor marries a Japanese school girl. Each tries to learn the other's way of eating.

Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan. A little girl gets to make the special dumplings for the Chinese New Year Soup.

Tiger Soup: An Anansi Story from Jamaica by Frances Temple. In this Jamaican folktale, Anansi, the spider, tricks the tiger to take a dip in the pond so he can eat the tiger's soup and blame it on the monkeys!

Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by Dyanne Disalvo-Ryan. A young boy goes with his uncle to a city soup kitchen where his uncle works.

Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughn. A clever dingo catches a wombat for his stew in this Australian folktale.

Mexicali Soup by Kathryn Hitte and William Hayes. A Mexican family learns a lesson when Mom leaves ingredients out of her special soup.

Everybody Cooks Rice by Norah Dooley. A child is sent to find a younger brother at dinner time and is introduced to a variety of cultures when he encounters the many different ways rice is prepared in different households. Recipes are included.

Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak. This book contains rhymes about each month for eating "chicken soup with rice."

Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Ehlert. A father and child plant, grow, and harvest a garden of vegetables to make the best soup ever!

Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt. A little boy feels really mean at the end of a bad day until his mother helps him make Mean Soup.

Soup by Robert Newton Peck. This is a set of books about the author and his best friend, Soup, in a 1920s setting.

About the Author: Kathy Rusert currently teaches multi-age (grades 1-3) advanced language arts (in the morning) and first grade science and math (in the afternoon) at Acorn Elementary School in Mena, Arkansas. She had previously taught first grade for eleven years. She has received numerous teaching awards and honors. Her most recent honors include being named 1997 American Legion Teacher of the Year, 1997 Wal Mart Teacher of the Year for Arkansas, and the1997 State of Arkansas Excellence in Teaching Economics Award. She and her first grade class were featured in the December, 1996 issue of Progressive Farmer magazine. In addition, she was featured in the Fall 1998 issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine. She earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from Arkansas Tech University. In addition, she has completed graduate coursework at several univsersities. She and her husband, Jerry, are the proud parents of two children ages 13 and 17.