Taste the food, experience the culture at Taste of the World

By: Ying Tzarm

Around 200 people attended the World Student Association’s annual Taste of the World event where the food and culture of 15 countries from all continents were presented in the Waldorf University Atrium on April 6.

WSA has been hosting the event for four years now to celebrate the diversity on campus. The countries presenting food and performances at the 2019 Taste of the World were Australia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Latvia, Malaysia, Nepal, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Turkmenistan, USA and Zimbabwe.

“It is a celebration of diversity on campus that all international students get to represent their country, share their culture through food and performances,” said Gülnaza Saburhojayeva, the president of WSA.

“Taste of the World is fantastic,” said Dr. Bob Alsop, president of Waldorf University. “It is just tremendous to see so many students come together and represent their country so well.”

The event was not only for students and faculty members, but also for Forest City community members to experience different cultures from around the world.

“This is a wonderful event to engage the community,” said Dr. Alsop. “There were a lot of community members. I know it is a highlight for them to come to this international festival.”

At the event, each country has a table set up to serve their food and exhibit some souvenirs and photos from their country.

“There are a lot of international students here, and it’s cool to learn about where they come from,” said Makenzie Davis, a senior theatre major.

Food choices during the event were beef stew from Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, rice and fried chicken from Ghana, fried noodles with Chinese sausages from Malaysia, salami and flatbread from the Dominican Republic, a fried snack with sauce from Nepal and beetroot soup from Russia. Turkmenistan and Poland made their specialty dumplings.

For desserts, Australia made sweet biscuits, France made chocolate mousse, Latvia made a chocolate and walnut roll and Nigeria made bean pudding.

“I don’t know if I can pick one specifically, but I really enjoyed the dishes from Nepal, Malaysia, and France,” said Davis.

In addition to food, some international students also show their talents of singing and dancing. For Davis, her favorite performance was the African dance by Saheed Olaosebikan from Nigeria, Rhoda Nyarko from Ghana and Lynnet Nomande from Zimbabwe.

After participants tasted the food and saw the performances throughout the night, the events ended with participants voting for their favorite dish and performance. The winner of the food this year was given to Brazil.

For the best performance, participants voted for Guzel Tuhbatullina, a communications major student from Turkmenistan, who sang the Russian song “Give Back the Music.”