Lesson video

Hi, everybody.

I'm Mr. Ballam.

Thanks very much for choosing this lesson today.

We're going to be looking at food for special occasions.

Should we get started? So what are we going to learn today? Well, by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to plan food for special occasions, justifying your choices, basically telling me why you've chosen what you have.

Shall we get started? Before we do, let's look at some key words.

Now, these are important words or phrases that I want you to think about and remember them as we go through the lesson.

So let's look at the first one.

The first one is special occasion, which is all about this lesson, and a special occasion is a meeting to celebrate an important event or an achievement.

We're gonna look at more of this in detail.

And the other one is religious festival, which is a time of importance for those following a religion.

Okay, so let's get started with the first part of the lesson, which is all about celebrating special occasions.

Now, we all celebrate many different types of occasions, special occasions, and these are meetings with others to celebrate a special event or an achievement, and we often celebrate these special occasions with food.

So is this true or false? We eat the same food on different special occasions.

Have a think.

That's false, isn't it? And why? Well, we eat different food on different special occasions, and some foods are linked to those special occasions, and we're gonna find out more about that in this lesson.

Now, special occasions include lots of different things.

Let's have a look at a few, shall we? Well, one special occasion is a birthday.

Some people have a birthday party, don't they? That's a special occasion.

In the photo is a cake.

But what other food might we have on that special occasion? Hmm, well, I think I know what I would like.

What would you like? Another special occasion is a wedding.

Have you been to a wedding before? There are many different types of weddings, and it definitely is a very, very special occasion, and different food is served at weddings that would be different from what you have, say, for breakfast, wouldn't it? So these are special occasions.

They happen just now and again, not every day.

What other types of special occasions are there? Well, there's things like an anniversary, for example, or it might be that you've done really well at school.

And if you look at these photographs, these are food that you can easily pick up, aren't they? You can pick these up really easily and enjoy them because you're going to be with other people, enjoying probably a party, I would imagine.

And what other food would you have to celebrate these types of special occasions? Hmm, have a think and let me know.

So here's a check, just to make sure you've been listening to me, okay? So which food would usually be served at a birthday or wedding? Is it A, B, or C? Yes, it's a cake, isn't it? A cake would usually be served at a birthday or a wedding.

It could be a birthday cake or a wedding cake.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's look at some more special occasions.

Well, one special occasion could be Halloween, couldn't it? Look at this food.

Doesn't it look frightening? Another one could be New Year.

Happy New Year, everybody, and that's a good special occasion to celebrate.

So what food might you have for each of these two special occasions? There's some clues in the photographs if you have a good look.

Other special occasions could be Valentine's Day.

Often, people give chocolates, and these are in a heart-shaped box, or it might be Chinese New Year, for example.

And what's Jacob saying here? Shall we read it together? To celebrate Chinese New Year, you might have fish, spring rolls, noodles, dumplings, and fruit.

Wow, that would be amazing, wouldn't it? What a great New Year that would be.

What a brilliant Chinese New Year, a special occasion.

So let's have a quick check, again, just to make sure you've been listening.

So which of these foods might be served on Chinese New Year? A, B, or C? That's right.

A, spring rolls might be served, but is there anything else? Mm.

Yes, C as well.

So A and C might get served to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Well done.

So I've got a little task for you here, and what I want you to do is to design a menu invitation to a special occasion, and I want you to think about and explain why you've chosen different types of foods for your menu, and I want you to think about the type of special occasion, I want you to think about the food that's usually served, and who you're going to invite.

And as Izzy's saying here, make sure your menu looks absolutely amazing too.

Okay, so pause the video, and good luck.

So how did you get on? Let's look at one example, shall we? Oh, wow.

Look at this.

It's a birthday invite.

This is amazing.

Look at the pictures on there.

Join me for sandwiches, fruit kebabs, pizza slices, and some birthday cake.

And why have they chose this food? Let's read it, shall we? Well, they like it.

It's easy to eat.

That's good.

It tastes good.

Well, that's important, isn't it? My friends will like it.

It's party food, and the cake is to celebrate my day.

So they're really good reasons for the food that's being chosen.

So what did you do? What did your party invite look like? I bet you used lots of colour, didn't you? I bet it looks absolutely brilliant.

Well done.

Now, let's move on to the second part of the lesson, which is all about religious festivals.

Now, a religious festival is a time of importance for those following a religion, and there are many different types of religions, and religious festivals are celebrated each year, marking times of importance, and many of these religious festivals are celebrated with food.

So true or false? Many religions have festivals to mark times of importance.

That's true, isn't it? Well done.

And why? Well, a religious festival is a time of importance for those following a religion.

Well done.

Now, let's look at some examples of different religious festivals, shall we? One of them is Hanukah, and many Jews celebrate Hanukah.

It marks one of the greatest miracles in Jewish history, and there are lots of different types of foods which are served.

I particularly like the latkes, which are potato pancakes, the bread, the donuts, and the cooked meat.

Mm, delicious.

So that's one religious festival.

What about another one? Christmas.

Yes, that's a religious festival, isn't it? And many Christians celebrate Christmas to remember the birth of Jesus Christ, and popular foods at this time are turkey, mince pies, and Christmas pudding, and these are all symbols of plenty, celebration, and sharing.

Another religious festival is Eid ul-Fitr, and this is celebrated by most Muslims, and it marks the end of the month-long fasting of Ramadan, and lots of different foods are usually served, things like dates, biryani, samosas, and sweet dishes too.

So what types of foods might be served at Eid ul-Fitr? Is it A, B, or C? Yes, it's two of them, isn't it? It's A and C.

It's samosas and dates.

Well done.

Another religious festival includes Diwali, and Diwali is a major religious festival for many, many Hindus, and the food includes lots of sweet dishes, which you can see some of the pictures here on the screen, as well as savoury items too, like samosas, and the recipes for Diwali celebrate the festival of lights.

It's the triumph of good over evil.

Another religious festival is Easter, and for many Christians, Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his Crucifixion.

Hot cross buns and Easter eggs are often eaten at this time.

And the hot cross buns, that you can see on the screen here, represent the Crucifixion, and the eggs represent birth.

Another religious festival is Vaisakhi.

It is an important festival for most Sikhs.

It marks the foundation of the Sikh community, and it's held in springtime, and Sikhs celebrate nature's bounty with a banquet of amazing dishes, such as spicy tandoori treats, cool lassi, which is a type of drink, and sweet puddings too.

But not everyone celebrates a festival in the same way.

The way religious festivals are celebrated varies depending on where people live, their culture, and their worldview.

For example, Christmas is widely celebrated by people of many wide views, not just Christians, and they may be religious or non-religious.

Many focus on family, giving, and joy.

So true or false? Everyone in the same religion celebrates a festival in the same way.

That's false, isn't it? And why? Well, religious festivals are celebrated in different ways, depending on where people live and their culture.

Okay, so I've got a task for you now.

Let's make sure you've been listening today, shall we? So I want you to suggest foods for two different religious festivals, and I want you to explain why you've chosen the different foods.

So just write them in the columns below.

Good luck.

Pause the video, and we'll come back shortly to see how you got on.

Bye.

So how did you get on? Shall we look at an example together? So here's two examples here.

The first one is Diwali, and the foods, samosas and sweets.

And why have those been chosen? Well, do you remember Diwali celebrates the festival of lights, and it's the triumph of good over evil.

And the second one, Easter, hot cross buns and Easter eggs, and these foods represent the Crucifixion and rebirth of Christ.

Well done.

I'm sure you've come up with some really good ideas.

You've done really well today.

I'm so proud of you.

Wow, we've covered so much, haven't we, about all these different types of food for special occasions.

So we celebrate many different types of special occasions, and we've gone through many today, haven't we? And some special occasions include things like a birthday, a wedding, or Chinese New Year, and we've also looked at religious festivals, and these being in a time of importance for those following a religion, and there are lots of different types of religious festivals that we've covered today, for example, like Eid, Easter, and Hanukah, and we've also covered that certain foods might be eaten at different special occasions and on different religious festivals.

I really hope you enjoyed the lesson today.

It's been great to go through food and special occasions.

There's so much that links together and celebrates who we are.

So well done for going through this lesson, and I really hope you come back soon for more cooking and nutrition lessons.

Thanks ever so much for joining me.

Take care, and I'll see you soon, bye.