Sweet and Savory How can we experiment with different cooking techniques, ingredients, and flavor profiles to create sweet and savory dishes to enjoy with friends?

Day 1

The Sweet & Savory Project had an unforgettable visit to Mac's Maple, a family-run farm with a rich history that dates back to the 1950s. Starting as a dairy farm, transitioning to a horse farm, and returning to dairy production in the 90s, Mac's Maple is now one of just three dairy farms that raises, processes, and distributes its own milk. With over 300 cows, 220 of which produce more than 15,000 gallons of milk per week, the farm is buzzing with life. For many students, this was their first time on a farm, and they absolutely loved meeting the cows!

In addition to dairy production, Mac's Maple also runs an impressive maple sugaring operation, collecting over 20,000 gallons of sap each year to make their own syrup. The process is fascinating—using reverse osmosis and boiling the sap until it becomes syrup, requiring about 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup!

After learning all about the farm, students put their culinary skills to the test by planning meals on a budget. They worked in groups to create a charcuterie board, design their own wood-fired pizzas, decide on mix-ins for ice cream made with milk from the farm, and tackle a ramen challenge. After researching recipes, they hit the dollar store for budget-friendly ingredients and then headed to Market Basket for the rest. The day was filled with learning, fun, and, of course, delicious food!

Day 2

The Sweet and Savory Project visited the Tuscan Market! The students learned to make stuffed pastas and red sauce.

Samuel Coppi "The most surprising part of making pasta by hand was how the dough was made, it was fun to see how it transformed into the pasta that we made".

Maddie Isabelle "I have never made pasta before but I was so surprised that I enjoyed it so much and it was so easy to make! With having an interest and passion in cooking and baking, I felt like I understood everything and picked it up pretty easily. The actual process of cutting everything out was super fun and I wish I had a ton of dough to just keep making more! I will definitely use the recipe card in the future to make this at home for my family and friends and surprise them and wow them!"

Ben Hamson "The biggest challenge that I faced while making the pasta was when we were stretching it out. It was a long process and didn’t know if it would work. You have to be patient and adjust to parts that you need to fix. I personally handled it by being more patient, and asking questions when I needed too".

Carla De Guzman Lopez-Tello "Working with fresh pasta dough felt much more hands on and satisfying compared to using pre-made pasta. When I touched the dough for the first time, I could feel the texture change and become smooth, which made me realize how much effort goes into creating pasta from scratch. The process was slower, but there was something rewarding about shaping it with my own hands. Unlike pre-made pasta, is just simple and hard so it doesn’t give me that feeling of making the pasta myself. I notice while the guy was explaining that fresh pasta is so much faster to cook that pre made pasta, usually around 3 minutes no more. The experience made me appreciate the work behind homemade pasta and gave me a new perspective on why people value fresh ingredients so much."

Day 3

We started the morning in the caf with Jess in the kitchen. She helped us make homemade icecream with the milk from the McNamara dairy. Students took turns measuring out the ingredients and then whisking everything together while it heated on the stove. After the mixture cooled some. they separated it into the ice cream makers and let it churn for about 30 minutes. Lastly, we added some mix-ins: crushed oreos, cookie dough bites and m&M. We'll have about 3 half gallons of ice cream!!

We also made pretzels this morning. The students split into two groups. Jess was awesome and had pre-measured some of the ingredients for us, but they got to practice reading a recipe, using measuring spoons (which was harder for some than I expected....) and kneaded the dough. Many of them commented how similar it was to Monday's dough (although not as similiar). I noticed them using the same technique for kneading that Jarret at Tuscan Market taught us!) After twisting into pretzels and braids, we topped the pretzels with salt or cinnamon sugar. Most kids opted for cinnamon sugar (and Precious made us a sugar glaze to drizzle on/dip the pretzels.

After lunch we went to do some service at Restoration Acres Farm.Links to an external site. Kathy runs her own 503c nonprofit out of her house and provides 500 meals per month that she cooks in her own kitchen for people in need in our surrounding community. While at her small farm, we helped prep her green house for the spring planting and planted some peas.

To end the day, we made pizza on a wood fired oven attached to a solo stove. Dessert pizza was a hit: nutella, strawberries and marshmallows. It was tricky to get the dough to stretch.

Day 4

Cupcakes, Egg Sandwiches, Charcuterie & Ramen challenge!

Samuel Coppi "Making my own country store sandwhich changed my perception by allowing me to see how much effort goes into making just one. We had asked her how many sandwiches she makes per day and she says around 50-60 this suprised me because it took my group around 5-10 minutes just to make three".

Kat Kamin "I think the biggest thing we had to focus on when making Ramen, was time management. We had a lot of time to cook the dish, and a lot of different things so there was a lot of multi tasking. Next time, I would try to write out a more specific recipe before we started. This would have made it easier to section out the time. Our team work really well together!"

Skyler Lacasse "If I had to build a themed charcuterie board, I would choose the standard theme. I personally have built these boards before and I love making them. I think the sweet flavors such as fruits and jams really pair nicely with the savory flavors like cheeses. The crackers and such always work nicely to add different textures and are essentially just a vessel for the flavors. My favorite ingredient for these boards that I’ve used is bri cheese that I put in a smoker, topped with fig jam. Overall I love the basic themed board because the colors and flavors are very versatile".

Mira Omur "I had a beach inspired decoration for my cupcakes. Although it was really hard to carefully do designs on the cupcake after getting used to it, it ended up being a lot easier than I thought it was. It was really challenging being precise, while trying to bring my vision to life. I overcame this obstacle by being more careful as well as just starting over when I messed up. It was a lot harder than I would’ve imagined and I’m glad I got the opportunity to try it out".

Day 5

Arancini with Chef Tom Faba, and a Sushi Class!

Callie Paquette "Texture makes sushi more enjoyable by combining different feelings, like soft crab, crunchy vegetables, and sticky rice. This mix keeps every bite interesting and balanced. Presentation is also important because bright colors and careful arrangement make sushi look more appealing. When food looks good, people are more excited to eat it. If sushi, or any food doesn’t look appealing, people will be less likely to want to eat it".

Ben Hamson "The role that the texture and presentation plays in making sushi visually appealing and delicious is important because you need to make sure that your sushi looks appealing enough to eat. You also want to make sure that you are able to pick your sushi up without it falling apart. When trying to make it delicious, you will want to make sure that you place the ingredients in certain places that will make each bite very flavorful. You would also want to use sauces that make it more flavorful, such as spicy mayo and a sweeter sauce. Between the Sushi being visually appealing and being delicious, it will make the Sushi better to eat".

Kyler Polanec "If I had to invent a sushi roll that pushed the boundaries of normal sushi I would try to add noodles and a different type of meat. I chose noodles because we used it during our ramen battle so I’d be slightly experienced making it. You could evenly place the noodles instead of spreading out the rice as you typically do. After that you would make the sushi and you typically do but instead of the outside being rice it would be noodles. Bacon could also make a good outer layer for the sushi. Having pork in for the crab would make the sushi mainly meat and could taste very different but tasty".

Samuel Coppi "A sushi roll that I would invent that would compliment other ingredients I would try to make a sweet sushi roll. I would use a fruit roll up as the nori and on the inside and use other candies on the inside to fill the roll. I think this would push the traditional sushi rolls a lot because the traditional sushi has always been with fish and vegetables and I think a sweet sushi roll would be very interesting to try to create and see how it tastes. I dont think it is something that has been done before so I think I would enjoy trying to create something like that, and I think it would compliment both sweet and savory tastes that would be very interesting. I think doing this candy sushi roll is something that I would like to try because I’ve never seen it done before and it would be fun to try to create something that hasn’t been done before and something I would want to try".

Carla De Guzman Lopez-Tello "If I could create a fusion-style arancini, I would combine sweet mango with spicy jalapeño and a bit of creamy ricotta. The sweetness of the mango would bring a fresh and fruity contrast to the heat of the jalapeño. The ricotta would add a smooth, creamy texture to equally have the same snout of the strong flavors. I would choose these ingredients because they show and mix of sweet and savory, the mango and jalapeño bring a tropical, bold flair, while ricotta keeps that other flavor".

Maddie Isabelle "The arancini making experience was so rewarding because they were so delicious in the end! The breading was my favorite part of the flavor. For sushi, it was pretty fun! I would definitely attempt to make it at home. Today I learned that I actually really like eel sauce, and I did try the spicy mayo which was alright, but it was a little too spicy for me. Another thing I learned from this experience about myself is that I could actually eat a lot of sushi if it is truly good sushi. If I were to make a sweet one, I would probably do something with strawberries, Nutella, maybe some graham cracker, and maybe even some marshmallow. Today was overall a great rice day!"

Alisa Koroleva "Texture and presentation play a significant role in making sushi visually appealing and delicious. When i was first making my sushi roll it didn’t look as appealing and that contributed to the taste and my willingness to eat it. When i usually eat sushi at the restaurant the presentation as well as decorations make a significance. Even though, it’s all going to look the same in your stomach the presentation is supposed to make you want to eat it".