As the holiday season approaches, members of the National Chinese Honors society , Black Student Union and Asian Honors Society worked together to create a community potluck. Each member of each club was asked to bring a dish from their culture, and the students all met up in the cafeteria together to dine.
“We never get opportunities to showcase groups that have minorities in them in the first place. So when we get to have a bunch of cultural clubs together, it’s more than just a big deal,” BSU president Misa Gibbs said.
Some students opted to bring paper plates, others just tagged along. But some spent hours preparing a dish that represents an important part of their identity. Junior Zoe Nowak made red bean Bao Zi an Asian dish that’s made of steamed buns with red bean paste inside.
“Making it was kind of tedious because I had to make a lot of them. It took me all day,” junior Zoe Nowak said.
Students got creative with the dishes they made as well, taking the opportunity to make something meaningful to them. Despite being in ACC, senior Ali Jacobs decided to make Syrniki, a Russian dish similar to pancakes, to expose others to a dish they grew up with in her family.
“I just want to do something with my culture. The dish felt unique and special being the only Russian dish there.” Jacobs said. “I really wanted people to see what Russian cuisine would taste like, maybe people can maybe go, ‘oh, that’s, that’s interesting. I’d like to try that again.’”
The potluck gave many students exposure to food they never tried before, with foods ranging from southern American style mac and cheese to dishes like Japanese onigiri, a dish made from rice and fillings. Junior Andria Antony was surprised at all the different foods available.
[There were] tons of food I had not seen before.” Antony said. “Literally half that table. I don’t know any of their names, but they were all delicious.”
The cafeteria was packed with over 50 students attending from all the clubs. However, each club leader was able to manage their club well and the event went smoothly.
“I think it overcame my expectations. Honestly, I knew people were going to show up. I didn’t know there was gonna be that many,” Gibbs said. “Usually when we have products, it could be very stressful, but because of multiple clubs combining and seeing eye to eye, it went really well.”
While there have been other potlucks hosted in years prior, there has never been one with this many clubs, and the leaders hope to host more like this one throughout the rest of the school year, as it exposes their students to new cultures different from their own.
“It’s important to remain open-minded. You know, just because we’re used to eating a certain type of food doesn’t mean that’s the only type of food available,” Antony said. “Having different cultures come together and share their unique experiences helps to, you know, broaden that perspective, not just on a cultural level, but even on a spice level.”
