The Geography Club continues to go from strength to strength making Friday lunchtimes far from dull.  Again watching clips of the explorer and survival expert Bear Grylls proves to be a popular choice of activity.  Our ‘chocolate challenge,’ an arduous and demanding task, was extremely popular, not sure why?  I am pleased to report that club members came through with flying colours, spotting their favourites (Dairy Milk, Galaxy) and enjoying the fair-trade Divine chocolate.

HMSG Geography Club investigating fair-trade chocolate

If you are a fan of fair-trade chocolate why not try our tasty Nutty Chocolate & Coffee Brownies?

Makes about 12 brownies

50g dark Fairtrade chocolate, roughly broken up 110g butter 2 eggs, beaten 225g unrefined (golden) Fairtrade sugar 50g plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder pinch of salt 100g hazelnuts (chopped in half) For the frosting: 100g butter, softened to room temperature 100g icing sugar 100g cream cheese 1 tablespoon strong black Fairtrade coffee

Pre-heat oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.  Grease a tin measuring approximately 27cm x 18cm and line with baking parchment, allowing paper to rise 3cm above the tin.  Toast hazelnuts in oven for 10 minutes (maximum) until lightly browned.  Melt chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Sieve flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Stir in sugar.  Beat in eggs and chocolate mixture until well-mixed.  Stir in hazelnuts.  Pour mixture into the tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until centre springs back when lightly pressed.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely in tin.  To make frosting, beat butter and icing sugar together until pale and fluffy.  Beat in cream cheese and coffee. Spread frosting on cooled Brownies.  Chill in fridge for 30 minutes, then cut into squares.

This recipe is from http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/

Global Taste Bud Challenge

This event, which took place over two lunchtimes, was a great deal of fun and also raised some important geographical questions about the food we eat:

• Where does the food we eat come from?
• Our changing tastes and diet – We now expect to find out-of-season foods in our supermarkets all year, e.g. strawberries at Christmas.
• How far has the food we eat travelled? This is linked to the issue of food miles.
• How much of the food we eat comes from local farms? Buying locally produced food cuts down on fossil fuels used for transportation.

Pupil comments on the food they tasted:

Carambola (Star Fruit): “Smells like mushy peas, tastes like Pomegranate.” “Tastes like Pineapple, Melon.” “Yuck!” Dragon Fruit: “Sour, watery taste.” “Looks like fish eggs!” Papaya: “Weird.” Physalis: “Tastes like tomatoes.” Mango: “Fruity.” “The best!”