For Harrisonburg, Virginia, couple Mohammad Khatiri and Ayam Ali, who bake cheesecakes and sell them online through the @CakeMe_am Instagram account, their first-place finish at EMU’s 10th International Food Festival proves they’re ready to pursue their passion.
“This win tells us that people really love our cheesecakes,” Ali said, “and that we should continue making them and actually start a business.”
Ali and Khatiri were one of 21 teams of chefs competing in the contest held on Friday, April 12. The competition, regarded as one of the most popular events at EMU, is hosted by the International Students Organization (ISO) and the International Food Festival Committee. It provides a chance for students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members to share traditional dishes from their cultures and enjoy delicious foods from all over the world.
More than 200 guests attended the event at the Orie O. Miller Hall of Nations inside University Commons. Guests could sample various cuisines and vote for their favorite dishes. Chefs with the most votes won a cash prize: $200 for first place, $125 for second place and $100 for third place.
Harrisonburg couple Hyo-Jin Chang ’23, who is from South Korea, and Austin Headrick won second place for their Korean dishes of japchae (stir-fried glass noodles) and jjimdak (a type of chicken stew).
“I love the idea of all these international people gathering together and sharing their food,” said Chang, who works for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. “I tried Burmese food for the first time in my life — it was so good — and now, I want to visit Burma (Myanmar) sometime soon.”
Her husband, a CJP graduate student, agreed: “For me, getting to see people’s reactions as they were eating the food was fun,” Headrick said. “They were really happy.”
A trio of siblings from Honduras, Rodrigo Barahona ’22, his brother Diego Barahona ’17 and sister Valentina Barahona, a senior at EMU, won third place for their desserts of arroz con leche (rice pudding) and platanos horneados (baked plantains).
Rodrigo competed in the event in 2018, during his first year at EMU. Now that he’s planning to leave the U.S. next year, he wanted to give it another shot.
“This was the last dance,” he said.
Student clubs and organizations also competed for a chance to win a trophy, bragging rights and joy.
Winning clubs were:
First place: Latino Student Alliance (LSA) for their tacos, aguas frescas (in horchata and fruit punch flavors) and churros;
second place: Asian-Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA) for their tteok-bokki (Korean spicy rice cake); and
third place: Black Student Alliance (BSA) for their shrimp and grits, flavored with Cajun seasoning, Old Bay and salt and pepper.
Naod Kidane, a first-year computer science major, savored a serving of tibs (an Ethiopian beef dish) and injera (flatbread). It’s the kind of food he grew up eating in his home country of Ethiopia.
“I don’t get a lot of time to cook for myself, so this is a treat for me,” he said.
Peri Moo, a first-year accounting major from Thailand, prepared foods from the Karen and Burmese cultures. He said he enjoyed trying the Ethiopian dishes, which were new to him.
“This is a fun event,” Moo said. “I feel like it’s also informative. You get to learn a lot about other cultures.”
Other cultures represented at the festival included those from Afghanistan, Belarus, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa, Ukraine and Uruguay.
Scroll through our photo gallery below to view more pictures from the 10th International Food Festival.
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