Little Chefs – Great Taste

With a tasting workshop for Latvian school kids Little Chefs – Great Taste / Små kokke – stor smag, Danish Cultural Institute in Riga started out a new project on taste experiences and healthy food.

In collaboration with Janis Jenzis, owner of the restaurant Garage and manager of the canteen at Rigas Doma kora skola. Rīgas Doma kora skolā, DCI arrangered en taste teaching workshop on 18 January 2017.

Laura Vana, Estonian graduate with a MSc in Food Innovation and Health from University of Copenhagen conducted a very interesting and instructive workshop for a group of 16 pupils.

The children explored their senses through sensory exercises including discovering the basic tastes, blindfolded tasting of different food products and a test to show the impact of the visual on the sense of taste.

At the end of the day, Laura Vana organized a simple cooking class for the children in order to show how simple and easy it is to prepare a healthy, savory and, last but not least, tasty meal.

Estonian Laura Vana was earlier a part of the Danish school program “Smag for livet”, doing workshops for Danish school kids at Bornholm.

Together with Vana Danish Cultural Institute in Riga plan further workshops for school children and kitchen staff.

Future Activities

The teaching workshop at Rīgas Doma kora skolā is the the first of a series of initiatives during Spring 2017. In February a similar Little Chefs – Great Taste workshop will take place in food center of Stockmann, a central shopping center in Riga.

Later in 2017 a Latvian-Danish project is organized in collaboration with the restaurant and wine bar  “Garage” in the centre of Riga. The Danish chef John Kofod (from Sortebro Kro at Funen) will exchange knowledge and practical skills on using local products.

Together they will create an “intercultural” dinner, that will present a “New Nordic Taste”.