Lily listened during the tamale dish rather than saying anything. She really didn't mind tamales but they were not her favorite. Now they got to try a sparkling drink from Mexico also... Drinking it, Lily realized that she had gotten lime. "Mmmmm...lime" A perfect palate cleanser.

Now on to the USA... Lily sampled the food in the next two squares. The first one was pretty good but the ravenclaw had no idea what it was, except for the mashed potatoes along with it. The second square was different. Raising her hand to state what it was, Lily spoke up. "Professor, I think the second one is clam chowder, found mainly in New England along the coastal regions."

Alyssa looked at the mini dishes and smiled. She used her fork to cut a piece off took a bite from the first dish and then picked up her soup spoon, scooped some soup out and swallowed it. She loved eating both of them. She raised her hand and answered, "Professor this first dish is called Chicken Fried Steak and is originates from Texas. This delicious soup is Clam Chowder soup and it originates from the New England States mainly from places like Maine and Massachusetts.

Annabelle knew these dishes. "Professor the first picture is a chicken fried steak and it originated in the southern part of the united states. Also the second picture is New England Clam Chowder in a bread bowl." Just looking at the picture made her mouth water. "The clam chowder was originated in Massachusettes?" she wasn't quite sure but hey she was hear to learn more about culture. She loved eating the Chicken Fried steak. She finished that in seconds. Then she savoured the clam chowder, it was creamy and she could taste the clams. She loved the seafood taste of it.

Amelia was enjoying her tamale and lime soda so much, she didn't really want to move on to the next dish yet, but at least she was glad to see that they were foods she recognized. After finishing her tamale, she raised her hand. "The first one is chicken fried steak and is found in the southern US. I believe from Texas." She looked at the second dish now. "And the other one is clam chowder." She actually loved clam chowder. "I believe it's from the New England States like Massachusetts and Maine?"

Sean looked at the two new dished to try from the US. He'd had both before, and liked them. He quickly ate the chicken fried steak using all of his gravy. He ate the fish soup slower, he didn't always like it.

He raised his hand and answered, "Chicken fried steak is the first one, it originated in Texas, and its country gravy poured over the top. It can sometimes be served with brown gravy but thats gross!" He explained the first dish.

"The second is New England Clam Chowder, or fish soup. Its a cream based soup that originated in New England, but can be found in most coastal towns in the US." He finished his answer but not his soup.

Violet was overwhelmed with all the food the professor was bringing to her table. So many cultures and foods! First she had tried the tamales which she enjoyed very much, then came the very colourful sodas. Ohhh. Which one to chooose? Violet closed her eyes and randomly pointed at one of the colourful bottles. Her finger landed on the yellow one, which was the mango flavoured drink. She took hold on the bottle, opened the cap and had a long satisfying drink. It felt good on her dry throat. Next came the two US foods. Violet has been to the US on several occasions during the holiday and the two plates that came next looked very familiar. "The first food looks like some sort of steak, and the other one is.."Violet took a sip of the soup, "Yum! It's clam chowder, but can you eat the bowl?" She prodded the hard brown bowl with her finger. It looked edible enough as if you could eat the whole dish.

Ella tried the sixth dish and smiled. It was delicious! She couldn't tell what the meat was exactly but it was definitely fried. "Professor, this is fried-fried...it's fried meat!" She said, chewing and trying to figure it out. "I'll bet it's...steak?" Then she tried the seventh dish, this was scrumptious and soupy. "Professor, this one has to be clam chowder! My mom used to live in the states when she was younger and she said this derived from New England."

One thing that had shocked the Gryffindor when she had studied abroad in New York several summers ago was the serving sizes in America. Everything was so BIG and the two dishes that were brought out next were no exception. BIG.

Taking a small sample of the steak, Kurumi raised her hand. "Professor, this dish is also called Country Fried Steak. As others have already said, it is associated with Texas cuisine, but its origins may be from German and Austrian immigrants to Texas in the 19th century. I believe that this conclusion was made because it resembles a dish from Austria.." What that name was exactly she had no idea and she didn't really want to venture a guess and butcher the accent on the word.

Looking at the soup now, a small smile tickled the corners of her lips. Now THIS was something that she new and enjoyed. She ate it in Japan too during school lunch when it came to be winter, but without the sour dough bread since that was rare in her country. Cannon balls. Hehe. Kurumi really enjoyed this sort of bread and wished that it was more readily available in Japan. Finding French bread was hard to come by. So, Kurumi raised her hand again. "That is New England clam chowder," she said. There were, what, six different varieties of the soup after all. "It varies from the other clam chowders in that it is milk or cream based and traditionally was thickened with sea biscuits or hardtack crackers instead of flour, which is the more common and accepted way of thickening a chowder."

Alex chose a pineapple soda and it was really refreshing. While she was sipping her soda and finishing her tamale, the next two dishes arrived. All of this American food was really making her homesick. This was not food that you would see every day in England, at least not in the places she frequented. Alex raised her hand. "Professor", she said. "This is chicken fried steak and New England clam chowder."

Gemma shook her head at the student's correct answers again....I mean everyone loved an easy lesson about food...yes yes yes...

"The first dish is known as chicken fried steak. It is made from a piece of steak, usually tenderized cube steak, coated with seasoned flour and friend in a pan. It is associated with Texas cuisine. Its name may be due to the similarity in preparation styles between chicken fried steak and fried chicken.
Chicken fried steak resembles the Austrian dish Wiener Schnitzel, also known in Latin American cuisine as milanesa, a tenderized veal or pork cutlet, coated with flour, eggs, and bread crumbs, and then fried. It is also similar to the recipe for Scottish collops." she said everything very matter of fact and almost like she was reciting it out of book. Food was yummy and fun but sometimes learning about it was well boring...it was the eating part that made the lesson the best.

She flicked her wand and the seventh square lit up on the board, "The seventh tasting is of Clam Chowder, as many of you pointed out...this is a specific form called New England Clam Chowder. New England clam chowder is a milk- or cream-based chowder, traditionally made with potatoes, onion, and clams. Adding tomatoes to clam chowder was shunned, to the point that a 1939 bill making tomatoes in clam chowder illegal was introduced in the Maine legislature....just a little fun fact.." she said excitedly before continuing, " It is occasionally referred to as Boston Clam Chowder in the Midwest. The traditional New England chowder is made by layering crackers such as Crown Pilot with the other ingredients."

She flicked her wand and their plates rose up off the table and levitated out of the room. Before they could start complaining about not having the last three tastings yet, she announced, "Okay enough with the main course dishes...let's have some desserts!" she clapped her hands together and another little plate flew into the room and landed in front of each of the students, "You may want to grab a refill of your drinks before we get started with the dessert tastings..." she said as she headed towards the machine.

As she walked, she started explaining the first dessert on the plate, "This dessert can be found in Central America especially in the Mexico region." she filled her cup up with some more Caramel Macchiatto and headed back to her table at the front, "I encourage you to try the dip beside it...it's just a mixture of honey and butter..." she made it to the front and peeled a little piece off the little balloon shaped tastings. "These are called Sopapillas....can anyone tell me where you can find these, or what they are made of, or a little history of these yummy bites..."

Alyssa took a piece from the dish that the Professor asked them to try, dipped it in the honey and butter mix before popping it in her mouth. She loved it and was going to grab for seconds but first raised her hand to answer the question.

"Professor this is some kind of fried pastry and a type of quick bread served mainly in the South American countries of Argentina, Peru, Uruguay,Bolivia and Chile. It is also quite popular in New Mexico and Texas. The word sopaipilla is the diminutive of sopaipa, a word that entered Spanish from the Mozarabic language of Muslim Iberian peninsula. The original Mozarabic word Xopaipa was used to mean bread soaked in oil, and derived in turn from the Germanic word suppa which meant bread soaked in liquid.".

Amelia frowned when the clam chowder was taken away. She had wanted to eat more of it. Ah well. She supposed it wasn't the end of the world. It was now time to focus on the second dish, and she studied it closely on her plate as she listened to the Professor talk.

She wasn't really sure about this dish because she never tried it before, but she raised her hand in order to take a guess. "Can you find these in Chile?" Whenever she said Chile, she always thought of Zayden. :3

Violet got up from the table to get a refill of her delicious Mexican drink. How about trying some tangerine soda? After refilling her bottle, she returned to her seat to find a plate filled with an interesting looking desert. She took a triangular pieced one, dipped it in the sauce, and placed it in her mouth. The flavours of the desert filled her tastebuds with exotic sweetness. "Are sopapillas from Argentina, Chile, Peru, United States and Uruguay?" she asked the teacher curiously. "My mom told me that the Argentina people have eaten this sweet bread since the 1700s!" Violet was actually surprised herself for knowing what this food was called as well.

Sky took a bite of the sopapilla, dipping it in the dip a suggested. Mmm. It was delicious! She ate a few more bites before answering the question. "I think they are found in Central America, specifically Mexico, and the U.S. in the states bordering Mexico." She had no idea how they were made, however, so she left her answer at that.

Ella smiled. Desserts in class! How awesome was this?! She quickly got up to get a refill of hot chocolate and headed back to her seat, eager to try the first dish. She bit into the Sopapilla and sighed, it was good. "Professor, it's pretty bready, like a pastry or something. I'm not sure where it comes from though."

Belle was soo excited for the desert portion of the meal! She could already taste the sugary goodness on her lips. "Professor this does look scrumptious and it does look like a delicate pastry but i am not sure where it comes from. But i know you can put powder sugar and chocolate drizzle on the top." She saw these type of deserts all the time at the fairs back in her town.

Sean took a huge bite of his sopaipilla. It was great, as is pretty much anything thats fried. He raised his hand to answer the professor. "Professor, this dish is from many places I believe. Each make it slightly different, from countries ranging from Chile, Argentina, New Mexico in the US and even Uruguay." He was proud of his global knowledge!

Kurumi sort of raised an eyebrow as she nibbled on the next bit as she tried to think of a way to answer that was not simply reciting from her cookbook. But, Kurumi found herself confused when the professor mentioned Central America...but her classmates were answering with clearly South American countries. Obviously, this was a dish that was more connected to the Hispanic culture than to an actual country. So, since the professor had placed more emphasis on Mexico in her introduction, Kurumi did the same in her thought process.

After a few moments, Kurumi raised her hand again. "Sopapillas are a type of fried pastry that are similar to many South and Central American fried doughs, but these particular ones I believe originated in New Mexico. The difference is that a New Mexican sopapilla is a pillow-like puff of fried pastry accomplished by making a special dough which puffs up as it fries, like a doughnut does whereas Latin American sopapilla is a type of tortilla. Or...perhaps these are the Latin American variety since Latin American sopapillas are typically served as a dessert food." She had never made them before, so she was a little unclear here. Either way...the thing she was eating did not resemble a tortilla, that was for sure.

It was all about food! Food was good and food like this was even better! Eva got quite full easily but she tried what the professor said was nice. And it was indeed nice. Sopaipilla's that's what she was eating with the dip.

"Professor this pastry is fried and by the name Sopaipilla it sounds kind of South American?" Was she right? the fried this was right?

Nate tried a bite of the delicous pastry. When he swallowed his food he raised his hand and said "It's a pastry that goes great with honey or maple syrup. Also they are sometimes sprinkled with pwdered sugar." Nate was from England but he knew alot about different foods.

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Jory looked at the fried thing. He wasn't sure what it was but he thought he mightmake a guess. He raised his hand. "I think they're Sopapilla, Professor,'' he said. But he didn't answer the other part. he had no idea where they came from.

Selina took the yummy looking doughy food and plopped it in her mouth in one bite. Yep, that was the stuff. This class, right now, was her favorite. They were learning about food! Did it really have anything to do with the way Muggles lived their lives? She didn't know if it did or not, but, hey, she was getting free food. She was so NOT going to complain. She LOVED this class.

Her hand flew up in the air and she replied, "It has a hispanic flavor to it, so some sort of latino country I'm assuming or a spanish dish? And it is definetly made out of some kind of dough..." she ate it.

Tayla was enjoying this lesson immensely. Everything smelled and tasted so good! And learning about where they came from and what they were made of was very interesting.

She refilled her cup of Caramel Macchiatto and then sat back down. She took one Sopapilla and added a little dip before taking a bite. "Mmm...!" It was tasty, as she expected it would be. Tayla raised her hand and answered, "I think this is a kind of pastry, Professor. It seems to be fried and made of bread." Thinking about how the word 'Sopapilla' sounded, she added, "They're probably from a Spanish-speaking country. Argentina or Chile...or maybe Spain itself?"

She smiled at the students, "Yes you are all right and bring up some great points and questions..." she said taking her last bite of sopapilla and then drinking some water.

"Sopapillas are a Latin America dessert. They a type of fried pastry which originated in New Mexico, although they are related to many South and Central American fried doughs. Latin American sopapillas are different from New Mexican ones. A New Mexican sopapilla is a pillow-like puff of fried pastry accomplished by making a special dough which puffs up as it fries, like a doughnut. It can be served sweet or savory, depending on region or taste, and is an important element of New Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. A Latin American sopapilla is a type of tortilla. The sopapillas we are eating today are said to have originated from Albuquerque, New Mexcio.

When made sweet, sopapillas are drizzled with honey or anise syrup, and sometimes rolled in cinnamon sugar. When made savory, sopapillas are filled with beans, ground meat, or other ingredients. A sopapilla can also be eaten plain with a side of honey to dip it in, and sopapillas are always served hot, as they get heavy and greasy when cold."

She finished with a little nod up and down, "Okay on to our last two desserts...." she flicked her wand and a picture of each dessert appeared on the screen.





"The second dessert is from South America. It's called Alfajores...It's a type of macaroon..." she paused and took a little bite. "Any guesses what these are made of. " these were some of her favorites.

"And the third dessert and our last bite of the lesson is called a Nanaimo Bar. Any guesses where this one is from and what's in it?" she asked wiping her mouth with her napkin as she waited for the students' answers.

OOC: Please remember to not just copy and paste your answers from Wikipedia...you won't receive points that way.