Fun With Pinwheels

We've been learning about how the foods and flavors of different countries evoke the history and culture of those places. This week, the kids broke into three groups to learn to make pinwheels inspired by the flavors of France, Mexico and the Middle East.  When we were finished, we had a pinwheel buffet to share our food with each other.

Pinwheels are a really fun twist on sandwiches.  All the ingredients are laid over flatbread, then rolled into a spiral and cut into slices that look like ...wheels!

For our pinwheels, we evoked the flavors of three different regions of the world, and chose flatbread to complement the other flavors.

Tortillas

Tortillas work great for pinwheels or wraps because they're so thin and soft, they are easy to roll things with.  Although tortillas in Mexico are simply made of corn or white flour, they come in many flavors and styles here in the United States.  

In the Adventure Kitchen, we try to use traditional ingredients when making authentic foods from a particular part of the world.  But when we're inventing something new (like this recipe), we love to get creative and choose whatever works best with the dish. 

For the Mexican Pinwheels, we chose a multigrain tortilla to complement the flavors of the Mexican fillings while adding healthy whole grains to our lunch.  For the French Pinwheels, we chose spinach tortillas to enhance the flavors of the French-inspired fillings and add a beautiful green color to the finished dish.

Lavash

Food historians tell us that lavash originated in either Armenia or Iran.  It has been used to scoop and wrap up ingredients for centuries, so it's an authentic choice for our Middle Eastern Pinwheels.  

Click to watch the video and see how lavash is made in Armenia - watch closely to see them throw the dough across the room ...and catch it!

PINWHEEL BUFFET

When the kids finished rolling up their ingredients, they brought them to the front of the room for Ms. Lynley to cut into pinwheels.  Each student ate a couple of their own pinwheels, then added the rest to our classroom buffet to share with the rest of the class.  That's part of cooking - learning to share what we make with others!

Recipes

Click below for step-by-step instructions to make the Pinwheels we made in class.

Final Class Next Week:  Applesauce, Aprons and Recipe Books!