Smoky mackerel spread

Age group:: 4-5 years
Food group:: Meat, fish, eggs, beans

This quick and simple recipe will help 4-5-year-olds hone their mashing skills by getting them to mix up the ingredients into a tasty spread. They will get hands-on breaking up the mackerel, but will need supervision to make sure all of the small bones are removed.

This toolkit contains a recipe, along with ideas about how you could include it in your lesson. Take a look at the recipe below and refer to it alongside the teaching resources.

The cooking skills and recipes have been developed in collaboration with the British Nutritional Foundation.

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Available Teaching materials

Understanding the world

Healthy eating

If you have made or plan to make Smokey Mackerel Spread, show the children the Eatwell plate and tell them that this recipe fits into the meat, fish, eggs and beans section, which is coloured pink.
If the children have not seen it before, explain that the Eatwell plate shows the sorts of food we need to eat to keep our bodies healthy.
Explain that fish is very good for helping bodies to grow and repair, and that mackerel has healthy oils that are especially good for the heart.
Ask the children to point to where their heart is and also get them to try to feel their own pulse (use two fingers – index and middle – and press lightly on the underside of the wrist just below the base of the thumb).
Explain that a pulse lets us know the speed of a heartbeat.
Prepare some pictures of foods that fit into the meat, fish, eggs and beans section of the Eatwell plate, a few that do not and a large ‘plate’.
- Put the pictures in a bag and ask the children – one at a time – to pull one out and decide whether or not it should go on the plate.
- Stick the appropriate pictures on the plate and put the others to one side.

Investigating fish

If possible, show the children a real whole mackerel (as suggested above).
Ask the children to look closely at the fish and describe it.
Talk about the different parts of the fish: tail, fins, eyes, gills, scales.
Encourage the children to take photographs of the fish and/or to record their descriptions using simple handheld recording devices.
Ask the children to draw the fish and add simple labels.

Chinese New Year

Together find out about Chinese New Year; search online and if possible watch videos to show the children the nature of the celebration.
- Obviously check whether any children celebrate it and if so invite them if appropriate to share some of their experiences.
- Tell the children that the fish is an important part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. The fish is considered to be a lucky New Year symbol and it is also eaten on the day.
- Share any stories you can find about Chinese New Year.
- Look for images of the Chinese character associated with the fish. It means good fortune, happiness and good luck.
- You may wish to identify which animal of the Chinese New Year is associated with the children’s birth year.

Map making

Make a picture of an underwater map showing the places where the rainbow fish goes (deep in the sea with other fish, on his own, talking to a starfish, in a cave with an octopus etc.).
Ask the children to make a map/sequence of places, either on paper or perhaps constructed in a small world area, where they go in a typical single day.

Equipment

Juicer
Bowl
Kitchen scissors
Measuring spoons
Fork
Spoon

Steps

Step 1

Juice the lime or lemon.
Step 2

Break the mackerel into small pieces and place it in the bowl, removing any bones. ADULT SUPPORT.
Step 3

Snip the chives. ADULT SUPPORT.
Step 4

Add the sour cream and juice.
Step 5

Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Step 6

Serve.