The United Minorities Council spiced things up at Houston Hall Sunday evening with its Battle of the Spices, a showcase of food from all over the world with the common ingredient of spices.
A line formed outside Bodek Lounge before the event, which kicked off UMC’s Unity Week, had even started. The event was a way of “celebrating our differences through food from every culture all around the world,” according to UMC Chairman Chris Cruz, a College junior. “We want to bring people of different cultures together from all around campus.”
A carnivalesque atmosphere pervaded the event, with different cultural music playing throughout. While most stalls featured food from restaurants nearby, some offered food with a personal touch. One such stall featured homemade pastelitos and empanadas by Grupo Quisqueyano, the Dominican student association. College sophomore Jossiel Cruseta, a member of the group, said that they chose to showcase this particular food because “we grew up eating them and have been helping our families make them since we were small.”
The Japan Student Association and Penn Taiwanese Society also prepared food themselves. College junior Airi Ban, vice president of external affairs for JSA, said that her “mum gave me the recipe.” She made wasabi pasta, as “wasabi is kind of the only spice available in Japanese food.” The PTS students also demonstrated their dedication to make beef noodle soup when they “hustled through a snow storm to get the ingredients last night,” according to Wharton senior Julie Shen.
There was an eating contest, when eight contestants had to down 12 vegetable pan-fried dumplings in one minute. The winner was Mo Shahin, a College senior who downed an impressive 11 out of the 12. Shahin was a returning champion, having won the same competition the previous year. His strategy was simple. “I just eat fast.”
A performance by Hype, a dance group that incorporates different cultural dance steps, livened up the mood for the announcement of the winner of the Battle of the Spices. In the category of spiciest food, the South Asia Society won with their dish called chaat, a mixture of yogurt with chickpeas, potatoes and chips. The best-tasting food award went to the Penn African Students Association, with jollof rice, a typical west African cuisine made with rice and chicken.
Hype Public Relations Chairwoman and College senior Cassandra Garraud said she hopes that those in attendance gained something from the event. “The hope for Unity Week is for more chances for students to mix with different groups,” she said. “When students come to these events, I hope that they don’t just take the free food, but also learn about the different cultures here at Penn.”
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Unity Week runs through this Saturday and will feature student dialogue on diversity and race as well as rap artist Chuck D this Tuesday.
