Hummus, dill, Names Will Never Hurt Me and Pistol were some of the new foods and books Fortis Academy students tested during a recent class assignment.

Fortis Academy teachers Rachel Finley and Ouindetta Thomas wanted to introduce their students to new flavors and peak their interest in different genres of books.

“Thus, the food and book tasting was invented,” said Finley.

Students sat at an elegantly dressed table and were treated to multiple samples of food. They each tried five samples and wrote a brief description of the taste, texture and whether they liked it or not.

Senior Karen Espinoza liked the prosciutto ham after never eaten it before.

“I like ham and cheese, but it looked different and didn’t seem appealing,” she said. “It does have a different taste so it was new to me but was good.”

The French macaron was a favorite for freshman Elmer Cante.

“It had a sweet taste to it and was good,” he said.

Next, students experienced a literary dessert. Books were covered at each place setting and walked around the table with music. When the music stopped and the place they were standing at was the book they were going to try. Students were given eight minutes to read the front and back cover and read the first few pages of the book. When time was up, they recorded their thoughts about the book and repeated the exercise for five books.

After the teens completed the tasting, they had a table discussion to discuss their favorite foods and books along with their least favorite foods and books. Students filled out a reflection napkin to let Finley and Thomas know what they liked and did not like about the overall tasting.

“In doing this tasting, Ms. Thomas wanted to help her students get a better understanding of food flavors for future recipe and culinary projects, and I wanted to get them excited about the Fortis library and help them recognize other literary interest that they did not know they had,” Finley said.