Flying Carpets and Foreign Food

The entrance to the Gray Room served as a gateway to the Middle East last Saturday, as the Intercultural Relations Committee hosted a night of cultural and culinary explorations. This year’s International Dinner, entitled Arabian Nights, featured foods and cultures of the Middle East.

White candles and ornately-wrapped scrolls adorned the tables, surrounded by red and gray confetti camels. Sharply dressed servers brought around pitchers of ice water and raspberry iced tea, giving the event a slightly more formal tone despite the laid-back manner of the guests. The buffet-style offerings were plentiful; it was quite a welcome break from the sometimes-monotonous Saturday night meals on campus.

The menu centered on a chicken dish and a beef dish, both of which had delicious but distinctive flavors. Tahini sauce, made from a sesame seed paste, complemented the seasoned chicken chunks, called Chicken Shawarma; the same sauce also nicely accompanied the slices of beef, called Lebanese Donair. Side dishes included cold Lebanese-style tabouli: made with bulgur wheat, parsley, tomato, onions and a marinade of lemon juice and olive oil, served alongside tahini spinach, a delightful take on the common leafy greens.

 

Photo courtesy Leah Girard

During the meal, students put on a Middle Eastern fashion show, modeling styles from the modern robes and head coverings to the surprisingly nice Arabic equivalent of clothes for a lazy day (think American sweatpants if they were more like dresses and not pants.)

Warm meals and warm conversation helped to shed light on Middle Eastern culture without ever having to have experienced a cross-cultural event. In fact, one could say that behind the ominous wall of the Gray Room in the cafeteria, the Intercultural Relations Committee was tearing down cultural boundaries.

 

Go here to read the full Asbury Collegian article by Courtney LeMay