 "Photo: Bret Liebendorfer")
Students gathered to discuss food and culture over 10 dishes of American, Chinese, Indian and Japanese flavor at the first meeting for the Multicultural Cuisine Club last night at Baker Systems Engineering Building.
The dishes included aloo gobi - an Indian potato and cauliflower dish -and miso - a Japanese seaweed and tofu soup. Also included was cheesecake and even a wrap that the club called a "Chinese taco."
The club was started by friends with a passion for cooking and eating, said Wanwen Cen, public relations officer for the Multicultural Cuisine Club and junior in communication.
Wanting to share their knowledge of cooking with others and finding there was not a cuisine club, the group decided to become a student organization in November, Cen said. The club gained attention through a bake sale in November and the Winter Involvement Fair on Jan. 12.
"People were shocked and also happy that there was a cuisine club," Cen said.
Students have joined the club for various reasons, such as wanting to learn how to cook or simply to socialize.
"(I want to) learn how to cook other good food and broaden my horizons," said Azher Salikuddin, a sophomore in electrical engineering who signed up at the bake sale and enjoys cooking Indian food.
"I just arrived here and was trying to make friends," said Chris Mentrek, a sophomore in physics with a liking for Indian food who joined at the Involvement fair.
Others have joined the club to educate people about the interaction between food and culture.
Many people are not aware that the cultural food available at stores or restaurants might not be cooked or taste as it is originally supposed to, said Puja Chandra, a sophomore in accounting who joined after talking to club member in her accounting class.
"There's more to culture and there's more to food, and a lot of people don't know that, and it's a good thing that we have something like this to show people," Chandra said.
The club welcomes students who know how to cook or would like to learn, and those who just like to eat, Cen said. She added that the club will provide opportunities for those who want to learn to cook at monthly demonstrations, and will make equipment and utensils available for students to use.
Apart from offering ethnic foods to students, the club also collected donations for the Red Cross to use toward the tsunami relief efforts in Asia.
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