Maryland

Target Audience: This lesson is appropriate for use in professional development with school kitchen staff, kitchen managers, regional managers, area specialists, and school system food & nutrition central staff. It can also be adapted to use with students, educators and administrators, families, and partners.

Time to Conduct Training: 90 minutes.

USDA Professional Standards Training
 Key Area: 4
 Code: 4100 Communications and Marketing

Description of Training: This lesson provides foundational and experiential knowledge about flavors and taste for adults who work in school food service; and differentiates between sensory and opinion‐based language used to describe food.

Topics include:
 The Five Senses
 Flavor categories
 Building a culinary vocabulary for flavors and taste

Objectives: At the end of this lesson, participants will be able to:
 List the five senses
 Identify the four main flavor categories
 Differentiate between sensory words and option words used to describe foods

Materials in this Training Resource:
 Preparation checklist
 Lesson at a Glance
 Instructor’s script
 Participant Sign‐in Sheet
 Participant Pre‐Assessment Worksheet
 Participant Post‐Assessment Worksheet
 Participant Note Taking Worksheet
 “The Five Senses” Visual Aid
 “Taste Bud” Visual Aid
 “Sensory and Opinion Words” Activity Worksheets