Year 8 - Cooking and nutrition
Making green mac & cheese
Cooking techniques and proficiency
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit extends pupils' cooking techniques, focusing on their food skill proficiency. Pupils develop food skills and apply their nutrition understanding. Recipe modification is undertaken, through nutritional analysis, and the functional properties of key ingredients are analysed.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use food skills to make green mac & cheese, making a roux sauce.
Key Notes
- Different pasta, vegetables and cheeses can be used. Cheese is made from milk, which can be from a cow, sheep or goat.
- Recipes can be modified to help meet healthy eating messages, such as using reduced fat cheese and adding extra veg.
- Starch granules in flour swell and thicken when in liquid and heated, a process called gelatinisation.
- The food skills used to make mac & cheese are measuring, grating, slicing, using the hob and grill and draining.
- Home-cooked and shop-bought dishes can be compared, such as cost, food skills, convenience, taste and health.
Vocabulary To Learn
- macaroni: a type of pasta, sometimes shortened to 'mac'
- gelatinisation: the process of thickening a mixture of starch (flour) in liquid when heated
- roux sauce: a classic French sauce, made with butter, flour and milk
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- A roux sauce can have all the liquid (milk) added at the same time, and whisked occasionally.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Different pasta, vegetables and cheeses can be used. Cheese is made from milk, which can be from a cow, sheep or goat. Recipes can be modified to help meet healthy eating messages, such as using reduced fat cheese and adding extra veg.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'macaroni'
a type of pasta, sometimes shortened to 'mac'.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: A roux sauce can have all the liquid (milk) added at the same time, and whisked occasionally. Correction: A roux sauce must have the liquid (milk) added gradually, and the sauce should be whisked continually to prevent lumps.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 8 Cooking and nutrition guide library.