Lettuce Celebrate

Saturday, March 17th is a very special day for one very big bird. It’s Schilling the emu’s 10th birthday!

Schilling lives with two other emu, Lester and Emus, in the Australia Walkabout. Each emu receives a ratite grain every day, which is a special grain containing nutrients and minerals specifically designed for ratites, or flightless birds. Along with a helping of grain, the emus are each fed 300 grams of greens, 200 grams of apples and 100 grams of grapes. Occasionally items in their diet are substituted, based on availability or as an additional treat.

For Schilling’s birthday, Chef Yohn took inspiration from Schilling himself and crafted a birthday treat mirroring the emu’s intriguing looks. Feast your eyes on the two-dimensional produce version of Schilling!

Crafting this work of art was mostly trial and error, but worked out in the end. Here’s how Chef Yohn made it.

produce emu

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 head green lettuce

• 3 inch banana half

• 1/3 apple, one large halve with two smaller portions cut like feet

• 1/2 grape (for the eye)

• extra grapes

• half of a carrot, sliced into four strips – two long and two shorter

DIRECTIONS:

Assemble!

• The lettuce is the body of the emu.

• The banana should be placed on the side of the lettuce, sticking out like a neck.

• The larger apple is the head, with a small hole cut out for a grape.

• The longer carrots are the legs and the shorter carrots stick out of the larger apple piece like a beak.

• The halved grape is the eye, and the other grapes are hidden in the lettuce!

• The smaller apple pieces make the feet!

Once assembled, Schilling got to enjoy his birthday meal!

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