In Science, we have been learning about Healthy Eating. We know that there are different kinds of food that we need to eat as a part of a balanced diet, in order to be fit and healthy! On Tuesday 3rd December, we went on a trip to see how healthy ingredients can be used to make a meal! We were VERY excited so we all arrived at school early, ready to take the bus to Pizza Express in Bishopsgate. We couldn't wait to get there and luckily it was only a short journey!
When we arrived at Pizza Express, the first thing we had to do was wash our hands to make sure we didn't get any bad germs into our pizzas. Next, the chef and waiters helped us to put on our very own chef hats and aprons! We learned that we have to wear these so that our clothes don't get messy and to keep germs from our clothes away from the pizzas. We talked about how to be safe when you are cooking - we know that there are things that could hurt us in the kitchen so it is very important to follow the instructions and be sensible so that we are safe when we cook.
Then the chef told us how he had made the dough and how to flatten it into a pizza shape - he even threw it up in the air and caught it again! We were very impressed! The dough is the energy food part of the pizza.
Next we were given our own pizza dough. We had to use three fingers to push the dough to the edge of the pizza pan, so that our topping wouldn't spill out of the sides.
Then we had to add some tomato sauce! This is not the same as ketchup, it is much healthier and is fruit/vegetable section of the pizza. The chef showed us how to tip our pans and shake them so we had a thin layer of tomato all over our base. It was quite tricky!
Next we had to add the cheese to our pizza. We learned that it is important to get the cheese right, too much and your pizza will be soggy, too little and your pizza will burn! The cheese we used is mozzarella, which is a very popular cheese in Italy, where pizzas come from. We sprinkled the mozzarella pieces onto our pizza, making sure they were spread evenly.
Then we sprinkled some oregano on our pizzas. Oregano is a herb and is what makes pizzas smell so delicious when they are cooking! We had to be careful not to have too much though, or it would be too strong.
Next our pizzas had to go in the oven! The restaurant has special pizza ovens to cook the pizzas in. We didn't put them in ourselves because pizza ovens are very hot and we might have burnt ourselves. The staff told us it is very important to let an adult put things in the oven when you are cooking at home too.
Whilst our pizzas were cooking, we tried some other ingredients. Our pizzas were Margarita pizzas, which is the basis for all other pizzas! We tried onion, olives, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and peppers. These are all fruit and vegetables which we could add to healthy pizzas if we made them at home. We also tried another herb, basil, which is the most popular herb in Italy!
When our pizzas were ready, the staff at Pizza express gave us Junior Pizzaiolo certificates (Pizzaiolo means pizza chef) to show that we have learnt how to make our own pizzas! We said thank you and goodbye and we took our pizzas back on the bus to school.
When we got back we couldn't wait to eat our pizzas! Luckily it was nearly lunch time, so we tucked into a delicious feast of healthy pizzas!
We even offered one to Miss Bates who wished she could have come with us to Pizza Express!
India and India's mum had made us some lovely rice-crispy cakes to have as pudding after our pizzas - they were very tasty!
We had a fantastic time at Pizza Express and we are now experts on pizza making! Maybe we'll write a cookbook to share our tips with you too!
