Food as a Bridge: Reflections on a Field Trip to an Indian Restaurant

A couple of weeks ago, I organized a field trip to an Indian restaurant in Ningbo, for high school students from Grades 9 to 12. On the surface, it was a restaurant visit. But in practice, it was a larger project that used food as a lens for history, geography, culture, and human connection.

I’ve always loved food — not just eating it, but thinking about it. When I lived in Bogotá, I even started a small business focused on Indian food. It involved catering, delivery, and cooking workshops, and it brought together many of my interests: food, culture, business, storytelling, and the joy of sharing flavors with others. That experience shaped how I think about food — not as something separate from “serious learning,” but as one of the most powerful ways to understand people and places.

That mindset carried over into this field trip.

Many of my students here in Ningbo, much like people I met in Bogotá, don’t know much about Indian food. They’re curious and interested but they haven’t had many opportunities to actually try it. Food is one of the easiest ways to build bridges between cultures — a point that sits at the heart of social studies and something I try to emphasize constantly in my teaching.

This trip wasn’t a one-off event. In the weeks leading up to it, each grade approached food from a different academic angle.

In Grade 9 Geography, we explored how geography shapes food systems, with a particular focus on herbs and spices — where they grow, why they grow there, and how climate affects cuisine.

In Grade 10 Ancient History, we looked at human evolution and the role cooking and fire played in the development of the human brain and early societies.

In Grade 11 Modern History, we studied the Columbian Exchange and how it led to the emergence of global cuisines as we know them today.

By the time the field trip arrived, students had a conceptual framework for thinking about food beyond taste alone.

Before visiting the restaurant, we had also spent time looking closely at the buffet menu students would be eating. We discussed each dish — its ingredients, how it’s cooked, and what flavors to expect. Trying a new cuisine is a much richer experience when you have some context. Knowing what you’re eating and why it exists makes you more open, more curious, and less hesitant.

I wanted students to walk into the restaurant with familiarity rather than uncertainty.

The restaurant generously allowed us to use the space for several structured activities before lunch. Groups of students took turns having a tour of the restarant while the rest engaged in different tasks.

We began with a vocabulary word search using terms like naan, butter chicken, and dal makhani. It might sound simple, but repeated exposure to vocabulary in different contexts is essential for language learning, and students genuinely enjoyed it.

We then moved into a spice exploration activity. Each table had five spices — turmeric, coriander, black pepper, bay leaves, and cumin.

Working in groups, students identified the spices using labels and clues, before creating a spice elevator pitch. One student from each group delivered a short, persuasive pitch explaining why their spice deserved a place in everyone’s cooking. This activity combined sensory learning with public speaking and persuasion — and it was one of the highlights of the day.

Students also completed a budgeting challenge, where they were given a fictional budget of 500 RMB and asked to plan a group meal using the menu. This sparked negotiation, compromise, and some surprisingly thoughtful discussions about value, quantity, and fairness.

Alongside this, they worked through a menu scavenger hunt, answering questions such as: What’s the cheapest dish? The most expensive? Why do you think that is? They also categorized dishes by cooking technique — fried, stewed, grilled, baked — which helped them think more carefully about how food is actually prepared.

Finally, students rotated through a samosa-making activity, guided by the restaurant’s chef. It was hands-on, messy, and genuinely fun — exactly the kind of learning that’s hard to replicate in a classroom.

And then, of course, came the eating.

Students enjoyed the food, tried new flavors, and talked about what they liked and didn’t like. Unsurprisingly, the clear favorite of the day was butter chicken — a reminder that even when exploring unfamiliar cuisines, butter chicken always prevails.

What mattered most to me, though, wasn’t which dish students preferred. It was how engaged they were throughout the experience — asking questions, debating choices, making connections, and using the ideas we’d discussed in class in a real-world setting.

This trip reinforced something I deeply believe: experiential learning works best when it’s intentional and scaffolded. When students are prepared, curious, and given meaningful tasks, learning becomes active rather than passive.

Food turned out to be the perfect medium — sensory, cultural, historical, and deeply human. And for a social studies teacher, that combination is hard to beat.