Ben Gross and Daniel Kunanec

Tasting History was an interdisciplinary project that combined Grade 11 and 12 classes in history, hospitality and  tourism, and green industries. Through this project,  Mr. Gross and Mr. Kunanec sought to broaden their students’ understanding of European Jewry beyond the Holocaust, emphasizing the importance of exploring more complete histories.

Students began by drawing on Holocaust survivor memoirs from the Azrieli Foundation to research food traditions of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. The students selected traditional dishes, such as cholent, challah, and latkes, and learned about their historical and cultural significance. They then cooked them using traditional methods in the school’s outdoor wood-fired oven, using ingredients grown on the school’s urban farm. As they worked, Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter shared stories about food memories and migration to Canada. This hands-on experience helped students to see parallels between Gutter’s journey and their own stories of becoming and being Canadian, deepening their connection to history through the shared language of food.

The students created a website to document their learning, share their resources and recipes, and to reflect on the intersections of food, culture, and history. Tasting History fostered critical thinking and personal engagement with the past and provided students with a deeper understanding of history as a subject that touches on many aspects of life and learning.