2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound. TASTE: The zaatar straws tasted amazing. The puff pastry, cheese and various spices we used really went well together and created such a nice taste it was fantastic. Even though there were only a few ingredients we did not need any more, I think it tasted so good because there were minimal ingredients but they had a great impact on the dish.
APPEARANCE: As with any food you make, there are always some that look more appealing than the others so we chose, what we thought, were the most appealing straws, based on appearances, to photograph. However, most of the zaatar straws looked pretty good anyway, they were nicely twisted and the taste was exactly the same with each one so it didn’t matter too much. It was a very basic appetizer so we did not have too much trouble with the appearance because most of them looked quite nice.
AROMA: Not only did the zaatar straws look and taste amazing but they also had a beautiful aroma, the cheese and spices combined made the aroma of the straws wonderful and invited you to have a bite or too.
TOUCH: The technique in which we used when making the zaatar straws was that after we had filled in the ingredients we twisted them and put them in the oven so the touch of the straws was puffy and bumpy due to the puff pastry and spices but they also had nice curves which gave the texture of the straws even more variety.
TEMPERATURE: When we first cooked the straws they were obviously nice and warm, which is how they would have been served, if it had been a restaurant, and they tasted great. However, later on that day when we finished them off at lunchtime, they had gone cold but they still tasted amazing, all though I do prefer them when they are nice and warm, just out of the oven.
SOUND: The only sound that came from the straws was when you bit in to them, which was a loud crunch sound, followed by a softer one when you reached the cheesy centre. It was beautiful and made the whole experience of eating the straws even better.
3. Enjoyment. – 8 marks I really enjoyed the whole process of the zaatar straws, the cooking was a lot of fun, I really liked how we got to add any spices we wanted, and of course the eating was wonderful. The straws tasted so amazing and Eboni and I both had a lot of fun eating them at lunchtime, our friends also really loved eating the straws.
COOKING: At the beginning Eboni and I were a little confused about where to start but after reading through the instructions a few times we were on our way. We both had a lot of fun making it and that showed by the amount of mess we made (we spent a good 15 minutes cleaning it all up afterwards) but it was all worth it.
PRESENTATION When we finally got out food into the oven we were very rushed for time so we very quickly thought of a plan of how we were going to display it and then as soon as they were ready we got them onto the plate but took another 10 minutes working out how to place the straws (it was harder than we had expected) when we finally got the photos done and uploaded we were very happy and even though we had found ourselves a little rushed everything turned out well.
EATING The eating was definitely my favorite part. We ate some as we were walking back to class but most at lunchtime and we shared them with our friends who loved them as well. We were very happy with our foods and enjoyed every part of the process.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation – 3 marks The finished product of our recipe was amazing. The zaatar straws tasted, and looked fantastic. Eboni and I were both extremely happy with the finished product and have both decided that we would love to make it for our families at home. The straws were beautiful and golden, they had the perfect amount of crisp and smelled divine. They were easy to present because they looked very appetising. The finished product was wonderful and we were very happy with the outcome. 5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. – 3 marks A change in which we think should change in the recipe, which we did ourselves, is to add cheese with the zaatar because it fills up your stomach just the tiniest bit more and makes the zaatar straws more interesting and gives them more flavour and texture. 6. Hedonic scale rating – 1 mark
LIKE VERY MUCH
Product EvaluationGnocchi Bolognese
1. Photo/Presentation
2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound. TASTE: the gnocchi was delicious. The sauce was great and I managed to eat it all whilst it was warm so I got to enjoy it properly. It tasted just as it should, Bolognese sauce and soft gnocchi pieces mixed together perfectly and with the extra parmesan cheese on top, the heat from the gnocchi melted it which added yet another fantastic element. Overall the taste was fantastic and is always the best part of any meal. APPEARANCE: instead of having a big decoration set up this time, we kept it simple and put it in a plain white china bowl with some parsley on top and a green background. It was a cute appearance but nothing over the top because the taste of the food was the main focus for this dish.
AROMA: the gnocchi had a great aroma. It was the same scent that everyone knows, when you can smell this scent you know Bolognese is being cooked. Personally, I love this scent because I love pasta and Bolognese so when we made the gnocchi I just knew, by the aroma; it was going to taste fantastic.
TOUCH: I didn’t actually think about touching the gnocchi as such because I had a fork so there was no need but just by looking at it I can say that to touch it would be very slippery.
SOUND: the gnocchi did not make any noises. 3. Enjoyment. – 12 marks The overall enjoyment of making the gnocchi was fantastic. From the cooking to the actual eating everything was a lot of fun and it was quite an easy, fun dish that I look forward to making more often now that I know how.
COOKING: usually for me the cooking is the hardest part of the process for me because I am not vey good but at home we make a lot of pasta so I was quite used to it, even though I had never made gnocchi before. It was a really fun dish to cook, and it wasn't too hard so I enjoyed it a lot.
PRESENTATION: rather than have a really big presentation this time Eb and I decided to keep it simple with a white china bowl, some parsley and a green backdrop. It took about two seconds to organize the presentation, which was good because it gave us plenty of time to pack up. The green from the parsley and the green background surprisingly didn't blend in together and we found it really easy to get a good shot.
EATING: once again the eating was the best part. It always is. The gnocchi tasted so amazing I didn't want to eat my normal lunch now that I had the gnocchi! Beautiful and warm seeing as though we cooked just before recess. It was amazing and I cant wait to make it at home sometime.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation of quality of food and presentation. Did it turn out how it was supposed to? was it a difficult recipe to follow?– 4 marks The quality of the gnocchi was really good. It was cooked thoroughly and properly. The presentation was simple but good. It kept the attention focused on the gnocchi and not what was going on around it. The gnocchi turned out exactly how we’d planned, the meat sauce was great as well. All the pieces were of good size and the Bolognese went great with the gnocchi’s size and texture. The recipe was a really good one. It was easy to follow and had a step by step process which was perfect for two amateurs like ourselves. 5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. Different ingredients, process to prepare, equipment used, Presentation, additions or exclusions – 3 marks Everything turned out fantastic with the gnocchi, if I was going to change anything it would be in the recipe instructions, the time it told us the Bolognese would take was more than it really did so this meant we had to pull the gnocchi out before the perfect time so that the Bolognese didn't cool to much. In saying this, the gnocchi and sauce both tasted great and the excess heat from the gnocchi was able to keep the sauce at perfect temperature. I think if I was doing this again I would have put the sauce on a bit later than we did because then we would have been able to pack up whilst it was cooking and not spend as much time at the end doing this, and instead spending that time enjoying the steaming hot gnocchi.
2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound.
To be honest, the fondu actually didn’t turn out as well as I would’ve liked. It was extremely thick and way too rich for my liking. In saying that, it was still a lot of fun to make and it looked
fantastic.
TASTE: as I mentioned above, it really wasn’t my type of dessert. The milk chocolate by itself was great, and I think we should have stuck with just that, when we added the cream it all of a sudden turned extremely hard and very rough. We had to get help to work out what had happened and we finally managed to get it back into fondu form but the cream really did ruin it. Eboni and I tried her best to eat as much as we could but we both found it hard to eat much at all because it was so thick and much too rich.
APPEARANCE: aside from being a little dark, the fondu looked amazing. Especially when we presented it, it looked beautiful with the marshmallow and strawberry decorations. The chocolate itself lay flat and looked extremely hard, like it had formed another layer. However, even though it looked like that it still had an extremely appealing presentation and I really loved the outcome of its appearance.
AROMA: all I can really remember from the fondu, in a aroma sense, was the burning of the cream on our first attempt. It was a really bad realization when we finally worked out what was happening and after we got the fondu right I really don't remember any strong aroma’s of the fondu.
TOUCH: when the fondu lay in the little pot, the top hardened and when we touched it, it seemed hard as a rock. However, after you push through a little it is softer on the inside but still extremely thick and not thin and did not resemble liquid at all, like normal fondu does.
TEMPERATURE: the fondu was beautiful and warm, it had just been heated over boiling water and then placed in a bowl which had hot water run over it and then wiped off before it went it to keep it warm. As the temperature went down the chocolate began to harden more and more.
SOUND: I don't recall there being any sound to the fondu…
3. Enjoyment. – 12 marks
I quite enjoyed the making of the fondu over the eating this time, this is quite the opposite to most weeks because usually the eating of the food is my favorite but this week, I enjoyed the making much more and learnt some valuable lessons in making fondu.
COOKING: The making was quite fun. However it was a bit harder than we expected because the recipe was meant to use a fondu set where as we just melted it over boiling water so some aspects of the recipe we had to change and disregard. However, once we got the hang of it we quite enjoyed it and had a good time eating the chocolate pieces along the way J PRESENTATION:
With some help from Krissy, we found the presentation quite easy and enjoyable, it looked really good and we were especially happy with the overall appearance of the fondu. We think it looked quite professional and we liked that idea because it covered up the not so good cooking skills that we have obtained over the past few years.
TASTING:
The opposite to what is usually the result of our cooking, the eating was actually my least favourite part because I didn’t really like it that much, as I said earlier, I found it too rich and too thick for my liking as I usually don’t like sweet things that much and I am an extremely fussy eater.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation of quality of food and presentation. Did it turn out how it was supposed to? was it a difficult recipe to follow?– 4 marks
As earlier mentioned, the fondu did not turn out as well as we had hoped. It was thick, rich and there was way too much chocolate in it. The presentation however turned out fantastically, much better than we had originally thought so that we were happy with. The recipe wasn’t awfully difficult to follow, just the fact that we didn't realize it was meant for a fondu set rather than over boiling water until we had finished put a minor speed bump in the way of out cooking process and we had to start again. However, I think the recipe would have been great for someone using a fondu set because it had step-by-step guidelines to follow.
5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. Different ingredients, process to prepare, equipment used, Presentation, additions or exclusions – 3 marks
Something I would change about this recipe, if I was to do it again over the boiling water is that I would have not added in the cream. The cream made the chocolate much too thick and rich, plus it was very hard to get back into fondu form after we added it. I think the taste would have been much nicer without the cream because it just made it too thick and too rich for a dessert.
1. Photo/Presentation
2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound.
TASTE: The zaatar straws tasted amazing. The puff pastry, cheese and various spices we used really went well together and created such a nice taste it was fantastic. Even though there were only a few ingredients we did not need any more, I think it tasted so good because there were minimal ingredients but they had a great impact on the dish.
APPEARANCE: As with any food you make, there are always some that look more appealing than the others so we chose, what we thought, were the most appealing straws, based on appearances, to photograph. However, most of the zaatar straws looked pretty good anyway, they were nicely twisted and the taste was exactly the same with each one so it didn’t matter too much. It was a very basic appetizer so we did not have too much trouble with the appearance because most of them looked quite nice.
AROMA: Not only did the zaatar straws look and taste amazing but they also had a beautiful aroma, the cheese and spices combined made the aroma of the straws wonderful and invited you to have a bite or too.
TOUCH: The technique in which we used when making the zaatar straws was that after we had filled in the ingredients we twisted them and put them in the oven so the touch of the straws was puffy and bumpy due to the puff pastry and spices but they also had nice curves which gave the texture of the straws even more variety.
TEMPERATURE: When we first cooked the straws they were obviously nice and warm, which is how they would have been served, if it had been a restaurant, and they tasted great. However, later on that day when we finished them off at lunchtime, they had gone cold but they still tasted amazing, all though I do prefer them when they are nice and warm, just out of the oven.
SOUND: The only sound that came from the straws was when you bit in to them, which was a loud crunch sound, followed by a softer one when you reached the cheesy centre. It was beautiful and made the whole experience of eating the straws even better.
3. Enjoyment. – 8 marks
I really enjoyed the whole process of the zaatar straws, the cooking was a lot of fun, I really liked how we got to add any spices we wanted, and of course the eating was wonderful. The straws tasted so amazing and Eboni and I both had a lot of fun eating them at lunchtime, our friends also really loved eating the straws.
COOKING: At the beginning Eboni and I were a little confused about where to start but after reading through the instructions a few times we were on our way. We both had a lot of fun making it and that showed by the amount of mess we made (we spent a good 15 minutes cleaning it all up afterwards) but it was all worth it.
PRESENTATION When we finally got out food into the oven we were very rushed for time so we very quickly thought of a plan of how we were going to display it and then as soon as they were ready we got them onto the plate but took another 10 minutes working out how to place the straws (it was harder than we had expected) when we finally got the photos done and uploaded we were very happy and even though we had found ourselves a little rushed everything turned out well.
EATING The eating was definitely my favorite part. We ate some as we were walking back to class but most at lunchtime and we shared them with our friends who loved them as well. We were very happy with our foods and enjoyed every part of the process.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation – 3 marks
The finished product of our recipe was amazing. The zaatar straws tasted, and looked fantastic. Eboni and I were both extremely happy with the finished product and have both decided that we would love to make it for our families at home. The straws were beautiful and golden, they had the perfect amount of crisp and smelled divine. They were easy to present because they looked very appetising. The finished product was wonderful and we were very happy with the outcome.
5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. – 3 marks
A change in which we think should change in the recipe, which we did ourselves, is to add cheese with the zaatar because it fills up your stomach just the tiniest bit more and makes the zaatar straws more interesting and gives them more flavour and texture.
6. Hedonic scale rating – 1 mark
LIKE VERY MUCH
Product EvaluationGnocchi Bolognese
1. Photo/Presentation
2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound.
TASTE: the gnocchi was delicious. The sauce was great and I managed to eat it all whilst it was warm so I got to enjoy it properly. It tasted just as it should, Bolognese sauce and soft gnocchi pieces mixed together perfectly and with the extra parmesan cheese on top, the heat from the gnocchi melted it which added yet another fantastic element. Overall the taste was fantastic and is always the best part of any meal.
APPEARANCE: instead of having a big decoration set up this time, we kept it simple and put it in a plain white china bowl with some parsley on top and a green background. It was a cute appearance but nothing over the top because the taste of the food was the main focus for this dish.
AROMA: the gnocchi had a great aroma. It was the same scent that everyone knows, when you can smell this scent you know Bolognese is being cooked. Personally, I love this scent because I love pasta and Bolognese so when we made the gnocchi I just knew, by the aroma; it was going to taste fantastic.
TOUCH: I didn’t actually think about touching the gnocchi as such because I had a fork so there was no need but just by looking at it I can say that to touch it would be very slippery.
SOUND: the gnocchi did not make any noises.
3. Enjoyment. – 12 marks
The overall enjoyment of making the gnocchi was fantastic. From the cooking to the actual eating everything was a lot of fun and it was quite an easy, fun dish that I look forward to making more often now that I know how.
COOKING: usually for me the cooking is the hardest part of the process for me because I am not vey good but at home we make a lot of pasta so I was quite used to it, even though I had never made gnocchi before. It was a really fun dish to cook, and it wasn't too hard so I enjoyed it a lot.
PRESENTATION: rather than have a really big presentation this time Eb and I decided to keep it simple with a white china bowl, some parsley and a green backdrop. It took about two seconds to organize the presentation, which was good because it gave us plenty of time to pack up. The green from the parsley and the green background surprisingly didn't blend in together and we found it really easy to get a good shot.
EATING: once again the eating was the best part. It always is. The gnocchi tasted so amazing I didn't want to eat my normal lunch now that I had the gnocchi! Beautiful and warm seeing as though we cooked just before recess. It was amazing and I cant wait to make it at home sometime.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation of quality of food and presentation. Did it turn out how it was supposed to? was it a difficult recipe to follow?– 4 marks
The quality of the gnocchi was really good. It was cooked thoroughly and properly. The presentation was simple but good. It kept the attention focused on the gnocchi and not what was going on around it. The gnocchi turned out exactly how we’d planned, the meat sauce was great as well. All the pieces were of good size and the Bolognese went great with the gnocchi’s size and texture. The recipe was a really good one. It was easy to follow and had a step by step process which was perfect for two amateurs like ourselves.
5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. Different ingredients, process to prepare, equipment used, Presentation, additions or exclusions – 3 marks
Everything turned out fantastic with the gnocchi, if I was going to change anything it would be in the recipe instructions, the time it told us the Bolognese would take was more than it really did so this meant we had to pull the gnocchi out before the perfect time so that the Bolognese didn't cool to much. In saying this, the gnocchi and sauce both tasted great and the excess heat from the gnocchi was able to keep the sauce at perfect temperature. I think if I was doing this again I would have put the sauce on a bit later than we did because then we would have been able to pack up whilst it was cooking and not spend as much time at the end doing this, and instead spending that time enjoying the steaming hot gnocchi.
6. Hedonic scale rating – 1 mark
LIKE VERY MUCH
Product EvaluationChocolate Fondu
1. Photo/Presentation
2. Description in terms of Taste, Appearance, Aroma, Touch and Temperature & Sound.
To be honest, the fondu actually didn’t turn out as well as I would’ve liked. It was extremely thick and way too rich for my liking. In saying that, it was still a lot of fun to make and it looked
fantastic.
TASTE: as I mentioned above, it really wasn’t my type of dessert. The milk chocolate by itself was great, and I think we should have stuck with just that, when we added the cream it all of a sudden turned extremely hard and very rough. We had to get help to work out what had happened and we finally managed to get it back into fondu form but the cream really did ruin it. Eboni and I tried her best to eat as much as we could but we both found it hard to eat much at all because it was so thick and much too rich.
APPEARANCE: aside from being a little dark, the fondu looked amazing. Especially when we presented it, it looked beautiful with the marshmallow and strawberry decorations. The chocolate itself lay flat and looked extremely hard, like it had formed another layer. However, even though it looked like that it still had an extremely appealing presentation and I really loved the outcome of its appearance.
AROMA: all I can really remember from the fondu, in a aroma sense, was the burning of the cream on our first attempt. It was a really bad realization when we finally worked out what was happening and after we got the fondu right I really don't remember any strong aroma’s of the fondu.
TOUCH: when the fondu lay in the little pot, the top hardened and when we touched it, it seemed hard as a rock. However, after you push through a little it is softer on the inside but still extremely thick and not thin and did not resemble liquid at all, like normal fondu does.
TEMPERATURE: the fondu was beautiful and warm, it had just been heated over boiling water and then placed in a bowl which had hot water run over it and then wiped off before it went it to keep it warm. As the temperature went down the chocolate began to harden more and more.
SOUND: I don't recall there being any sound to the fondu…
3. Enjoyment. – 12 marks
I quite enjoyed the making of the fondu over the eating this time, this is quite the opposite to most weeks because usually the eating of the food is my favorite but this week, I enjoyed the making much more and learnt some valuable lessons in making fondu.
COOKING:
The making was quite fun. However it was a bit harder than we expected because the recipe was meant to use a fondu set where as we just melted it over boiling water so some aspects of the recipe we had to change and disregard. However, once we got the hang of it we quite enjoyed it and had a good time eating the chocolate pieces along the way J
PRESENTATION:
With some help from Krissy, we found the presentation quite easy and enjoyable, it looked really good and we were especially happy with the overall appearance of the fondu. We think it looked quite professional and we liked that idea because it covered up the not so good cooking skills that we have obtained over the past few years.
TASTING:
The opposite to what is usually the result of our cooking, the eating was actually my least favourite part because I didn’t really like it that much, as I said earlier, I found it too rich and too thick for my liking as I usually don’t like sweet things that much and I am an extremely fussy eater.
4. Result of finished product. Explanation of quality of food and presentation. Did it turn out how it was supposed to? was it a difficult recipe to follow?– 4 marks
As earlier mentioned, the fondu did not turn out as well as we had hoped. It was thick, rich and there was way too much chocolate in it. The presentation however turned out fantastically, much better than we had originally thought so that we were happy with. The recipe wasn’t awfully difficult to follow, just the fact that we didn't realize it was meant for a fondu set rather than over boiling water until we had finished put a minor speed bump in the way of out cooking process and we had to start again. However, I think the recipe would have been great for someone using a fondu set because it had step-by-step guidelines to follow.
5. Changes/ improvements, which could be made to recipe. Different ingredients, process to prepare, equipment used, Presentation, additions or exclusions – 3 marks
Something I would change about this recipe, if I was to do it again over the boiling water is that I would have not added in the cream. The cream made the chocolate much too thick and rich, plus it was very hard to get back into fondu form after we added it. I think the taste would have been much nicer without the cream because it just made it too thick and too rich for a dessert.
6. Hedonic scale rating – 1 mark
NOT SURE (what I mean by this is that it was O.K.)