Iroquois Middle School English as a New Language students celebrated the Lunar New Year with a party featuring dishes from the school’s new community cookbook.
The class prepared jiaozi, a dumpling, and tomato egg drop soup, both dishes from China. These are just two of the 55 recipes from 25 countries that make up the Iroquois Community Cookbook.
English as a New Language teachers Melanie Romer and Ilyse Levine organized the effort to collect recipes from students, families and staff over the past month. “The students who have something represented in the book are so excited and proud of it,” Levine said.
The cookbook project is part of the ENL program’s outreach and community-building efforts. “It was a way to connect the entire community through recipes and what the recipes mean to them,” Romer said.
Hannah Yu, an eighth grader who moved to Niskayuna from China several months ago, submitted the jiaozi recipe. She loves to cook. “I am happy to be able to share some traditional Chinese recipes with my new classmates,” she said.
Talha Khan, a sixth grader originally from Afghanistan, submitted the recipe for mantu, a dumpling from Afghanistan made with ground meat and onions. Talha noted that his family serves mantu when they welcome guests into their home. And he added, “It is delicious!”
Click here to read the cookbook and cook up a dish of your own!
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