Touch-Smell-Taste Adventure
A Kids Passport to the World of Food



Click here to see pictures from the event

For the quickest read, you only had to check the expressions on the
faces of the kids.

On March 21, students from three Oakland County schools displayed wide-eyed and lip-smacking interest at the variety of exotic nibbles served at Chef Keith Famie’s first Touch, Smell, and Taste event, held inside the main ballroom of the Marriott at Centerpoint in Pontiac.

For the 250 youngsters who attended it was sensory Shangri-La.

Ringing the perfectly-appointed Marriott ballroom were tastings booths representing any number of exotic locations that Chef Famie has visited, both in his ‘Survivor II: The Australian Outback’ role and as host of the popular Food Network series Keith Famie’s Adventures. Each booth was manned by representatives of tourist boards, a Detroit-area chef, or a loyal and well-trained Famie staffer (including Chef Famie’s two children, Josh and Alicia, who ran the Greece and Pacific Islands kiosk respectively…and respectably!) Offerings included such delectables as guacamole and blue-corn tortilla chips (Mexico), breadfruit (Jamaica) and various spices such as turmeric and allspice, and in most instances, represented the first time that many of the youngsters had experienced them.

Of course, Michigan was well represented with Traverse City dried cherries and crisp apples, and proved a hit to equal the more unusual fare.

That’s not to say that there wasn’t the occasional grimace among the yums. Vegemite, for example didn’t enlist many fans, and although nobody officially checked beneath the tables, there’s a good chance that some of the Vegemite-spread crackers wound up ‘down under’. According to Patrick, age 10, of Will Rogers Academy in Auburn Hills, the thick, chocolate-brown Australian sandwich spread was ‘way too salty’ for his tastes. He expressed amusement when told that among Australian children, the idea of peanut butter and jelly sounds disgusting.

For the knot of youngsters representing Emerson Elementary, macadamia nuts were the nosh-of-choice. Michelle and Nicole, both ten, gushed that they were ‘the best thing on the table’, but admitted to putting a dent in the table’s supply of coconut chunks. Edamame were a surprising hit, and Emerson’s Travante, 9, claimed that they were better than the peapods his mom serves.

Meanwhile, Chef Famie showed film clips culled from his countless global exploits, and answered numerous questions from the children. A lot them, predictably, surrounded his experiences with Survivor II, but the impromptu demonstrations of coconut-opening techniques and a quick lesson in how to play a didgeridoo (an Australian woodwind) steered interest to the
educational side of the afternoon.

That was equally enhanced by Clarkston's Cedar Crest Academy, whose African-percussion band Gbeke Lalai took the stage and performed to cheers and amazement. Comprised of fifth through eight graders, the music was moving on a level than truly transcended global restrictions.

Likewise, the event was a remarkable chance for the kids to become comfortable with a variety of cultures and foods from around the world; an opportunity to build tolerance and respect for others at its most crucial moment: early on.

It’s a sentiment that Chef Famie echoes: "It seems like if we're able to broaden the minds of our kids today, and they're able to have an understanding, appreciation and respect for each other's cultures a little bit better, as they grow up to be our leaders, maybe they'll think a little differently about the world."