{"id":39773,"date":"2018-09-27T13:25:26","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T17:25:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=39773"},"modified":"2018-10-01T09:47:17","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T13:47:17","slug":"international-food-festival-celebrates-the-deliciousness-of-cultures-at-emu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/international-food-festival-celebrates-the-deliciousness-of-cultures-at-emu\/","title":{"rendered":"International food festival celebrates the deliciousness of cultures at EMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before the long line of hungry students was admitted, Thomas Plaza at Eastern Mennonite University was bustling Friday night as 22 chef teams prepped their tables where they would serve the authentic cultural cuisine they\u2019d prepared for the annual international food festival and competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"This year\u2019s festival was the biggest yet, with approximately 350 people attending and voting for the winning teams, who were awarded cash prizes of $100 (first place) and $75 (second and third places). The event was sponsored by International Student Services<\/a> and the International Student Organization<\/a> (ISO), which also reimbursed chef teams for their ingredient purchases.<\/span><\/p>\n

First place went to Leah Wenger<\/strong>, Sylvia Mast<\/strong> and Abigail Jolly<\/strong> for their chicken tikka masala, rice and naan; second place went to Mario Hernandez<\/strong>, Fred Flores-Cano<\/strong> and Mohammad Albaqami<\/strong> for their ceviche; and the Black Student Union represented by Jessica Washington<\/strong> and Clarissa White<\/strong> for their mac and cheese.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Festival organizer and ISO president Xhorxhina Ndoka<\/strong> has attended three years. The senior from Albania was a member of the winning team as a first-year student, when she and her Honduran partner made tres leches, which turned out delicious \u2013 she heard: \u201cI never had the chance to taste it, actually,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the festival is about more than food and culinary chops, Ndoka said: \u201cThis event is important because we are not only competing or doing some food tasting. We are manifesting our cultures, sharing a taste of our home countries, and bonding with one another. Breaking bread is an act of family and close friends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely gotten busier,\u201d said senior Emma Miller<\/strong>, who has attended the festival each of her years at EMU. \u201cA lot of people are aware that there are students from other cultures on campus, but they don\u2019t really know what that means and they might not interact with them a lot. This is a great way to share culture and brings all that together so they can see firsthand what that looks like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly every continent was represented by the chef teams.<\/span><\/p>\n

This year sisters Val<\/strong> and Natalia Hernandez<\/strong> made arroz con leche, a Honduran dessert.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember we used to have it when we were kids for Christmas, or when there was any holiday,\u201d Val said. \u201cThey would just make a big batch of it, and everybody in our family would have it, and so we\u2019re bringing it here and just remembering people and some of our festivities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeremiah Yoder<\/strong> served fried plantains, like those he had growing up in Burkina Faso. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not really a meal,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more of an add-on, something that will go with almost every meal, especially if there is a lot of people partaking in it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Marti Eads<\/strong>\u2019 husband Christopher<\/strong> was manning the table of three-ingredient peanut butter cookies that she and their daughter Effie<\/strong> had made, to represent the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re really good, surprisingly good, considering there\u2019s almost nothing in them,\u201d he said \u2013 just eggs, peanut butter and sugar. <\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Allene Henderson<\/strong> was serving an Australian dessert that she said in her home country Chile is called merengue torta: meringue, cream and strawberries \u2013 \u201cvery simple, but very hard to make,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were laugenbrezel \u2013 a soft lye pretzel \u2013 and Bavarian sauerkraut from Germany made by Victoria Barnes<\/strong>, Chinese dumplings with green onion pancakes and sour and spicy shredded potatoes, lumpiang shang<\/span>hai spring rolls and more.<\/p>\n

And that winning mac and cheese? White describes it as \u201cone of my soul food dishes I was taught to make when I was younger and I just stuck with it. Since I was able to walk, I\u2019ve been in the kitchen just learning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First-year student Jonathan Reimer-Berg<\/strong> said he found himself gravitating toward the Latin American food, perhaps due to being enrolled growing up in a dual-language program; on his plate were arroz con leche, tamales and one of the 90 empanadas made by Glorianne Flores Mojica<\/strong> and Rachel Loyer<\/strong> that were gone within 30 minutes of the festival\u2019s start.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not far from where David Park<\/strong> and Jae Hyun Cho<\/strong> were serving South Korean noodles \u2013 in rapidly disappearing both spicy and sweet dishes \u2013 Gabby McMillon<\/strong> had made a brittle rendition of an almond and maple syrup treat she often buys at a Korean bakery in northern Virginia. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The festival is \u201creally valuable,\u201d she said, because it allows people to experience different cultures and to try food they don\u2019t normally eat, plus learn new ways of preparing common foods.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering the fun and the reviews we have received so far,\u201d Ndoka said following the event, \u201cwe will upgrade this annual event into something bigger next year. What\u2019s more encouraging than seeing Americans cook Indian food and international students engage and bond with one another?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even before the long line of hungry students was admitted, Thomas Plaza at Eastern Mennonite University was bustling Friday night as 22 chef teams prepped their tables where they would ... read more about International food festival celebrates the deliciousness of cultures at EMU<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":39777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14715,5861,17562,4513],"tags":[6085],"feature":[17423,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-39773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-student-life","tag-marti-eads","feature-featured-undergrad","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nInternational food festival celebrates the deliciousness of cultures at EMU - 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