Valentine’s Day Cafe

It has been a long tradition to organize a cafe in Rakvere Basic School on Valentine’s Day.  The preparations for this event start much earlier and it is always carried out by our 8-graders.

With the help of our technology teacher the appropriate recipes in English are chosen and in English lessons they are translated as well as the units of volume are transformed. This is followed  by practical testing which results in picking out the most suitable recipes to be offered in the cafe.

Poster are made to advertise the event.

The day before Valentine’s the cookery class is busy and schoolhouse smells good. Students also calculate the prices, and make recipe booklets to enable the others to try out their favourites at home, too.

During breaks the cafe is open for everybody and both teachers and students buy and enjoy the pastry.In the cafe it is also possible to have photos with friends taken  and listen to good music.

The students learn a lot about the basic principles of how to run a cafe and all the rest enjoy a cheerful event.

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The Anniversary Cake of Basic school Rakvere

In October 2014, a big biscuit cake was prepared for the 105th anniversary of the school. The cake was made by all the calsses represented in school. The sweet master from each class made alternately their own part of big cake. Biscuits and sweet curd cheese cream were used in the preparation of the cake. The teachers also had their own part on preparing the cake. The honorable task of the decorating remaind for the ninth grade, who gave the cake with berries and various decorations anniversary worthy look. Each child got a delocious piece of the birthday cake at the dining recess. Preparation of this cake merged the school family, offered a joy of together making and tasty moments, which will remind this party for a long time.

 

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Tartu Hiie School and Rise and Shine School Exchange Drawings

Tartu Hiie School have good friends from Kenya from Rise and Shine School. We study about each others countries, nature, traditions, schoollife. We write and draw about these themes and change packets. Packets reach to us 2-3 times in year, because we can change these with help of volunteers. We are thankful that volunteers share with us their first-hand impressions and memories and show many nice videos and pictures about our friends.

This time we exchanged food pictures, below you can see a gallery of our drawings. Fruits and Easter drawings are from Hiie School, all others are from the students of Rise and Shine School in Kenya.

Omushenye, simsim and milk

Material: beans, sweet potatoes, milk, simsim (sesame seeds), firewood, salt and water

Prepare beans, wash them, put them in a clean sufuria (bowl), put enough water, then light fire and put on sufuria. Let it take 2 hours, then put in sweet potatoes, which have been chopped and washed properly. It will take 1 hour to be ready, then cook it the way you cook ugali almost 1 hour. Then it will be ready to eat. We call it Omushenye in our language.

Prepare simsim, wash them properly, put them in a clean sufuria and put it on fire to make them dry. After that put them in a container called Eshinu in our language and start mixing by using a heavy stick until it becomes soft like heavy porridge. Therefore take clean cups and put in milk. The food now is ready to eat. This food is carrying nutrients, energy and vitamins to make body healthy and strong. In our culture this food is prepared in special occations. During the time we cooked it at school, pupils and teachers were happy, because it is a respectful food.

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Luhya traditional food in Kenya

Omushenye:

Omushenye (a mixture of boiled beans and boiled sweet potatoes) is a luhya traditional food which is liked by most of the families because of being nutritious. In it, it comprises of proteins, carbohydrates vitamins and calcium that makes the body healty and strong. Proteins help the body by building up worn out cells and tissues. Carbohydrates help the body by adding energy that makes body strong. Vitamins protect the body against various diseases like rickets, scuvy, kwarshioko, marasmus.

How omushenye is prepared

Either dried or fresh beans are boiled/cooked to be soft to the chew. Fresh clean sweet potatoes are cut in pieces and added to the already boiling beans so as to boil together and from one mixture which will be mached to be called omushenye. Salt is added at the earlier stage before the end of the boiling. It can be left to cool then served with fish, meat, chicken stew.

Omunyobo:

Omunyobo (fine mashed roasted monkey nuts) is a luhya traditional food that is favoured by many people for it is noutritious and boosts body growth and development. Protenous content is high which helps in repairing the worn out cells and tissues. Omunyobo also contains calcium that builds up bone formation and development and also helps gums and teeth to be firm and strong enough. It contains fats that make the body skin to be moist, smooth to touch.

How to prepare Omunyobo

Omunyobo is prepared bu roasting dry monkey nuts. It is the mashed that it becomes fine and smooth to touch. The fat content in it makes omunyobo to be moist and fine. Omunyobo can be eaten with other solid foods like mashed bananas, sweet potatoes, yams, cassavas or irish potatoes, chips and chapatis.

Amabere amasatse:

Amabere amasatse (sour milk) contains microorganisms that protect the body against different diseases. The proteinous content in the milk builds up the body to be healthy.

How it is prepared

Fresh milk is kept in a guard for some days (can be 3-5 days) according to ones taste. The guard is shaken smoothly on the things to make up a heavy fine mixture. Other fresh milk can be added little by little depending on how one wants the level of sourness to be. One can drink with other solid food like sweet potatoes, cassavas, ugali, bananas, yams or chips. These food can be eaten as lunch or supper, for it is sweet and leaves one satisfied for long time.

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Making omushenye in Mungan’ga Secondary School

This is how we prepared food:

We had beans, sweet potatoes, mashed simsim (sesame seeds). We started to boil beans almost 1 hour, after that you put there sweet potatoes, then you mash together like ugali (maize meal in Kenya). After that you try simsim and mash. This is food in our language called Omushenye.

This food is carrying out nutrition and makes the body to be strong. This is the traditional food and also food for our visitors which is carrying carbohydrates and fats.

It is the best nutritional food in our culture in Africa.

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Kenyan foods by Rise and Shine Special School

Together with Rise and Shine special school we prepared Omushenye with sour milk. Omushenye is a Kiluhya (tribe in Kenya) well liked sweet meal witch is prepared for supper. It makes one satisfied and contains nutrients for body growth and development. It contains carbohydrates, proteines, minerals. Omushenye comprises of beans and sweet potatoes. They are cooked differently by boiling and later mashed together till they are mixed evenly to be one. It’s left to cool then served as main meal with sour milk or any drink one can prefear for. It boasts body growth due to the extra suppliments in them.

Mashed bananas are prepared by peeling the outer cover, washed, then boiled, mashed, left to cool, then served with omufuluko (marshed groundnuts which have been roasted)

Ugali and local vegetable (murere) is mostly to the old aged people. It’s very nutritious and easy to prepare. Murere is a local green vegetable which grows even without planting. It needs lett attention and can survive in any weather condition. Preparing murere is easy. It’s boiled with local burnt ash from bean leaves, it becomes ready after some minutes and served after cooling with ugali or mashed bananas.

Sour milk is a luhya drink liked by most of the people. It’s a drink drunk by any age-group, because it contains nutritive forming microorganisms which builds up and boost body growth. During its preparation fresh milk is put in guard (Eshimuka) and left to stay there for some three to five days. The guard is shaken smoothly on the thighs to make the milk to taste sweet and smooth to the tongue. One can drink without adding sugar or add depending on one’s taste and choice. Sour milk can be drunk with potatoes, ugali, bananas, yams (nduma) or drunk without any solid food. Taste sour milk and can not miss to have it for meal as it contains proteins, vitamins and calcium in it.

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Yemeni month in Estonian Schools

December saw the beginning of The Yemeni month in four different schools in Estonia; these schools were Audentes Erakool, Rääma Elementry School, Vesiroosi Gymnasium and Tartu Miina Härma School. During this month these schools were involved in some activities that included making Henna tattoos and making some simple Yemeni food such as fried bread (Tauah Bread). And a salsa kind of dip called Sahaweq. The students also made an effort to make this bread and sell it at the Christmas Bazars. The money they were able to collect was added to the “Entelak” project, which is a Yemeni project to assist girls who have fallen out of school to continue their education.

Tauah Bread recipe:

• Flour
• Water
• Salt (according to taste)

Keep adding until you have a solid dough. Then make small balls out of the dough (the size depends on how big of a pan you have). Roll each ball flat and then smear with vegetable oil or melted butter, then fold, and smear again and then fold. Then roll the folded dough flat and start frying on a flat pan, add some oil according to preference.

The ready bread can be used to eat with either savoury food such as cheese or stew, or sweet food such as honey or jam.

Some add a filling of scrambled eggs and tomato and chilli to it, other fillings can be added also and fried along with the bread.

Sahaweq recipe

• 4 large tomatoes
• A little garlic (depending on taste)
• Salt (according to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cumin 
• 2 or 3 chilli cones (according to taste)

This Salsa kind of dip is a very popular dish, and can be added to any savoury food or eaten with bread.

Blueberry and Kama Muffins

We prepared blueberry muffins with kama and cottage cheese. Kama is Estonian traditional food. We eat it with yoghurt, sour milk and with some other dairies.

Recipe:

• 3 eggs
• 150 ml sugar
• 200 ml flour
• 100 ml oil
• 100 grams cottage cheese
• 5 tablespoons kama powder
• Some blueberries
• Baking powder

You have to mix all the ingredients except the blueberries. Then pour the dough into muffin forms and add some blueberries. Then put muffins into oven (200 degrees celsius) and bake them until they are golden brown (~20 minutes). Enjoy!

 

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Cooking Afghan Curry and Eggplant Bolani at our school

In this video we show you how to cook Biryani rice, Bolani, Peeraki, Afghan curry, salad, Chakni and fruit chart!

The dishes we cook in the video is mostly cooked for random lunches and dinners, however, the rice dish and Afghan curry (various types) are also considered must for all afghan special occasions e.g: weddings, parties, hospitality etc.

In Afghanistan, girls of student age are quite keen to help their mothers cook delicious dishes as you watched in the video. We unfortunately do not run cooking classes arranged for the students due to insufficient possibilities. It could be a great initiative for the future.

Recipes for the Curry and Bolani:

 

Afghan Curry
Ingredients:

• 1 kg Chicken pieces, skin removed
• Cooking oil 3-4 tbsp
• Fresh tomatoes ½ kg
• Garlic 3-4 cloves
• Fresh pepper 4pieces
• Thick Yoghurt ½ kg
• Small piece of ginger peeled
• 1 heaped spoon of coriander powder
• ½ spoon of seasoning

Instructions:

1. Pour oil in a cooking pot, add pieces of chicken to the heated oil.
2. Stir the chicken pieces in the pot, add garlic, add small cut pieces of fresh pepper, add coriander powder, add cut tomatoes, add seasoning, add ginger pieces, salt and thick yoghurt. Now add a glass of water .Stir again until all the ingredients added to cooking pot get well mixed.
3. Now heat it for around 12 minutes – (medium heat)
4. Turn heat off and delicious Afghan chicken curry should be ready. You may check the chicken pieces for softness and may cook if for five more minutes if the chicken is not as much cooked as you may like.
5. Sprinkle a handful of chopped coriander on curry as garnish.

 

Eggplant Bolani
Ingredients:

• ½ kg eggplant
• Thick Yoghurt ½ kg
• Garlic 3 cloves
• Cut Tomatoes ½ kg
• Salt (as needed)
• Fresh pepper 2 pieces
• Fresh chopped coriander for garnish

Instructions:

1. Peel off eggplant and cut into equal slices
2. Place the pieces of eggplant in a plate – Add some salt to the uncooked eggplant and leave for 3 minutes
3. Now, pour cooking oil into a frying pan, turn the heating on and add eggplant pieces to it to cover the surface of the frying pan (make sure the eggplant water in the plate is not used).
4. Leave the eggplant for 5 minutes on medium heat.
5. Now remove the fried eggplant from the frying pan and add cut tomatoes, chopped garlic and fresh pepper and 1 tbsp of salt to the same oil in the pan.
6. Stir well until it is turned into paste.
7. Now add the fried eggplant to the paste and stir carefully until the eggplant pieces are well covered with the paste containing tomato, garlic, pepper and salt.
8. Use thick yoghurt and chopped coriander as garnish.
9. Enjoy! 🙂

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