Pam eagerly took a bite of the sample, and smiled. Steak was one of her favorites. Thinking as she chewed, she couldn't help but wonder if it was some foreign country she didn't really know. Past the States and Europe, she didn't really know what was out there. So she moved on to the next question she asked: what was in it. Chuckling to herself, she raised her hand. "Professor, I'm almost 100 percent positive there's meat in this."

Nate raised his hand and said "It looks like it is made with pork, and some seasonings made from crushed/cut herbs. Also it looks like it came from Peru maybe." After he said that he picked up his fork again and tried a piece of it. When it touched his tounge it tasted like a party in his mouth. He loved it so much that he would probably make this once he got home from hogwarts.

Lily looked at the third little sample on her plate before taking her fork and knife and cutting off a small piece to try it. Mmm.. this one is good. The ravenclaw really enjoyed steak, and this was very well done. As she finished her bite, Lily raised her hand to take a guess as to where it was from. "Professor, Is this by chance from Peru or Chile, though I'm leaning more towards Peru..." Lily figured that it had to be somewhere of Spanish or Portuguese origin since the name definitely sounded Hispanic.

Evelyn listened when the professor talked about the next dish which was called Churrasco. She wasn't going to eat it since it was steak and Evelyn didn't like steak. Yeah. She was way too picky about food.

The girl raised her hand and attempted to answer the question. "Professor. Is this dish from Argentina? Or..maybe Portugal?"

Churrasco with Chimichurri... Ellie wasn't even going to attempt to pronounce that. She would fail. It looked good though. The meat looked yummy. And the green stuff on top was a little questionable, but she would still try it. Of course.

Ellie took a small bit with the green stuff. It was pretty good. It just tasted like a bunch of herby stuff.

She had no idea where it was from. She just liked food.

Zhenya put a small piece in her mouth. Just a small piece. She loved food and wanted to taste everything, so she paced herself. It was really good though, so she ate a whole piece to herself. Then she looked around and tried to guess. She had no idea, all she knew was that it tasted good!

But she needed to have a guess, so she raised her hand and said, "Erm... Brazil is where this dish is from."

Well, she wasn't sure. She had only guessed, and now she was eyeing more of the dish off. Could she eat ALL of it?

Kurumi took a small bite from the next meal before passing it to the others at the table. Spicy foods were sort of not her thing, except for wasabi, so she was taking very very small bites from all these South American dishes. Not that they weren't delicious, just too spicy for her delicate taste buds. "I think it's from Argentina," Kurumi said with confidence with her hand raised. "The sauce, Chimichurri, is originally from Argentina but is used in other countries as well. However, what makes this sauce unique is that there is no chili in it since it is said that Argentinians have delicate pallets." And was why Kurumi found herself taking another small bite.

Just one of those random facts of the day for you.

Steak... why was this class such a Merlin send? Not only was the whole lesson basically a taste testing of food, but now they had steak too. She swore that she was being rewarded for doing something brilliant in a past life. Honestly, it was just a wonderful, wonderful thing this class.

With a smile on her face she dug into Churrasco and smiled broadly. It was delicious. Honestly, the Argentineans knew how to make a good dish. Oh right, that was who made it! Well obviously the elves made it, but that was beside the point, "Its a dish from Argentina and it tastes like it has steak in it, mint, garlic and I also taste parsley."

Catching Up ><""
 

Belle sat down and didn't feel soo uncomfortable anymore. "Hi Alyssa! I love this room and espically these little tables. It is soo cute! It makes me feel like i am in a coffee shop. The decor is adorable for all the different countries." she said as she scanned the room and amazed by all the decor.
Then she heard the professor asking about what their favorite food is.
"I am Annabelle, i am from the United States. My favorite dish would be deep dish cheese pizza." You would only have to go to New York to get a perfect pizza like that which is where her grandma lived. Then she tasted the dish called Churrasco with Chimichurri. "Professor would this dish be from brazil or argentina?" it looked sort of foreign to her since she lived in the states.

Angelina took her fork and took a small piece of the Churrasco with Chimichurri. It tasted pretty good. The thing though was she didn't want to know what was in it. Some countries use meat from animals in the country that she wouldn't like to eat, so when eating meat she doesn't want to know at all. After eating the Churrasco with Chimichurri she raised her hand and took a guess from where it might be, "Professor is it from Argentina?"

Churrasco with Chimichurri. The plate looked like it was made out of steak. Adam rubbed his hands together excited at the prospect of what he could be eating very soon enough. He grabbed a piece of the food and tasted it in his mouth. It was very juicy and chewy.

He raised his hand as he answered. "Isn't this used in other Latin countries besides it's original origin of Argentina?" Anything latin/hispanic would always be on Adam's list of food to eat.

The young professor wiped her mouth before continuing. "Yes this dishis from ARgentina..." she was fixing to continue when her favorite Gryffie chimmed in...

With a smile, Gemma said, "O yes Kurumi, you bring up a great point! If you all noticed these bites weren't as spicy as the last dish...two bonus points to Gryffie for your extra trivia bit..." she said raising her hands up in the air in excitement.

"Churrasco with Chimichurri..." this time she said it a little bit better without stuttering through it, "is a specialty in Argentina. It is comprised of Argentine grilled flank steak topped with a special tangy herb sauce.
In Argentina, this dish is typically made with the country's famous grass-fed beef, cooked over a wood fire on a grill grate called a parilla or a cast-iron skillet called a chapa." she paused and took a drink again, "Like the other dishes presented already it can be served in different countries but it is best known for being connected to Argentina..."

She smiled and the board above her highlighted the fourth and fifth square..."Now let's go a little bit further North in our next bites around the world..." she motioned up to the board, "You'll notice that there's a few bites from a common dish from Mexico...and I have to admit that I love Mexican cruisine..." she noted excitedly.

"Now before you take a bite, make sure you unwrap the miniature bites of this popular dish. Then give them a try..." she said leading the way...yes and these were some of her favorites. "Fell free to dip one of your bites in the salsa in square five...it's a medium blend with cilantro diced in..."





She glanced out at the students trying the little bites after unwrapping them, "Anyone want to guess what this dish is called and what it is made from? Anyone want to guess on the history of this delicious taste..." she asked the class...as she waited for the answers, she flicked her wand and little glasses of a colored bubbling liquid started levitating into the room. She couldn't wait to share this surprise with the class.

Kurumi blushed a bit. She didn't really expect to be rewarded for that, she was getting used to the opposite being true when it came to certain professors, so it came as a pleasant surprise.

When the next dish came, Kurumi's hand was up before she even tasted it. "It's tamale, or tamal, a Latin America dish." The latter was the more correct wording according to her reading at least. "They are made from something called masa, which is typically a corn-based dough, and filled with meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables, chilies, or whatever the person making them wishes really. The leaf is either corn husk or plantain leaf, but I believe these have been steamed using corn husks." Okay, now she was going to take a small bite to mostly confirm everything she had just said. Her tamal just happened to have a cheese filling. Yay!

0_______o

"Those are tamales Professor. They're mostly in Latin America. They're made out of many different ingredients, corn, carrots,raisins. And before you eat it you have to actually tear apart the leaf cover, that part is inediable. There's no certain time of day it has to be specifically eaten, so breakfast,lunch and dinner is all good.And if you're in the streets of Mexico, you might be lucky enough to find some vendors on bikes with giant pots and they're selling them out there. Usually they sell in big amounts-50 to 100 batches." Maybe he should stop now. He really could go on a long time talking about Mexican food.

"It's called tamal," Sky answered, her hand in the air. "It looks like it's wrapped in a corn husk." She didn't know that much about it, though. She tended to avoid Latin American dishes, since she had heard that most of their food was spicy. So instead of getting it wrong, she decided to simply try the dish. Hmm, it wasn't as spicy as she was expecting…

Whoa playing catch up now. Sick in bed.
 

Alyssa was caught by surprise. While she was drinking her cocoa the Professor had started asking questions and her head was spinning trying to answer the questions as she asked them. She raised her hand and answered, "Professor, Feijoada is a stew dish made out of beans and pork and it is a popular dish both in Portugal as well as Brazil.

Churassco with chimichurri is a traditional Argentinian dish and Tamales is a popular Latin American dish made out of masa (a starchy dough, usually corn-based), which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. You unwrap the leaf wrapper before eating. Tamales can themselves be filled with meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables, chilies or any preparation ither corn or flour dough." Alyssa finally took a deep breath after her spiel.

Once again with everything else Angelina took the food and dipped it in the salsa. While eating it her eyes lit up. It was amazing! She loved the salsa with it! Sadly after finishing it she raised her hand and said, "that dish was tamales, which are found in Latin America." It was so good she wanted more now.

"Ooh tamales!", Alex said. She was excited to see food that reminded her of home, her real home. One thing California girls know is Mexican food. She raised her hand and said, "Professor these are tamales". "They are found in Mexico, well all of Latin America really". "They're made with a corn based dough, filled with different things and wrapped in corn husks. And they are delicious!", she said.

And here come the next dishes. Messer couldn't help to grin when he saw the dishes. He knew the first dishes. His Nana had made him once. He raised his hand up in the air "Its tamal, Professor." he said. "Its a traditional Latin American dish." he added. Kurumi already told the Professor what the dish is made of so Messer decided to answer to the history question. "If I'm not mistaken the Aztec and Maya used tamales as portable food, to support their armies, and also for hunters and travelers." Messer discarded the tamale wrapping before eating it.

Ella eyed the tamales excitedly. She loved tamales! She removed the wrapping and bit into one with a smile. Yum! "Professor, these are tamales and they're definitely Latin American, as everyone else has said. I'm not sure where they originated from though." Ella said with a shrug. She honestly didn't care where they originated from at the moment. She was just savoring the flavor.

Pam looked at the dish quite hesitantly. She didn't know if she'd like it, but she came came into this class with an opened min, and a hungry tummy. So she took one, dipped it in the salsa, and took a bite. Her eye widened as she chewed and swallowed. It was actually really good. Thinking for a moment, she tried to figure out what could be in the delicious new food. Raising her hand she said, "professor, are there some sort of vegetables in this?"

Daichi placed his knife and fork down as he looked up to see the board behind the professor light up again. And as he looked at his plate again, he wasn't surprised the next dish had been served. Mexican food. Daichi wasn't really found of it but he still wanted to try.

He didn't know the name of the food, so he tried to answer the other question on what it taste like. Taking a bite he immediately tasted cheese and chillipepers. Hoping he was right, he held his arm in the air to answer. "Professor, i taste chillipepers, cheese and meat..but i don't know what kind of meat" he said as he took another bite. It was quiet good.

The professor took another bite of her tamales and dipped it in the salsa...o yes cilantro was her favorite, "Yes, these are tamales and you have all brought up very important information about the tamales...thank you.... " she flicked her wand at the little glasses of the bubbling liquid landed in front of each of the students, "Just for the fun of it, I ordered in a special drink from Mexico. These are known as Jarritos Soda. They come in a variety of flavors, including Fruit Punch, Grapefruit, Guava, Hibiscus or jamaican, lime, Mandarin, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tamarind, Watermelon, Lemon-Lime, Mango and Cola. I've divided them up so that the flavors are spread all over the room. Feel free to take a chug of your glass and see what you think..."



She smiled and then continued with the explanation of tamales, "Tamales are a traditional Latin American dish made of masa which is a starchy dough that's usually corn-based, which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. like Kurumi mentioned. The wrapping is discarded before eating. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables, chilies or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned. These tamales are made of just meat and cheese. What's interesting is that tamales have been traced back to the Ancient Mayans, who prepared them for feasts as early as the Preclassic period. So these little things have been around for centuries...Thank you Mayans for thinking these up..." she said with a little giggle before downing her little soda drink....Her's was Mango...her favorite.

She flicked her wand and the sixth and seventh squares highlighted. "Off we go on our next taste adventure...still staying in North and South America, let's try one more dish and then the last four are forms of desserts..." she flicked her wand and map of the world appeared with the USA highlighted. "Let's try a couple from America, my home..." she said as she looked down at her plate.





"Now the USA is a huge place with lots of different cultures spread around. It is known as the melting pot country because so many different nationalities and cultures have led the economy and the development of various aspects, including food. " she paused as she took in the smell of her mini dishes in the two squares. "Please try each of these and let me know what you think each is and what part of the USA these originated or can be found in?" she said picking up her fork to cut her fried dish.