Niles West hosted the 2024 Annual International Feast during their International Week on Tue. March 4 as well as Thur. March 7. The feast featured a variety of food from different cultural clubs. From pretzels from German Club to sushi from Korean Club, the feast showcased a variety of flavors, textures and cultures.

Food is at the heart of one’s culture. Food is how people connect and share their stories. Eating a hearty meal is not only for necessity but also serves as a way to embrace a culture, both your own as well as a different culture and helps connect people on a deeper level. For many, the cooking of food, allows that person to share their story and to help others realize that their culture is just as important as any others. I had the privilege of trying different foods from each cultural club that showcased their culture through food on March 4.

I want to start off by saying that one food was not better than another. Each food, I believe, showed a lot about a specific culture. I tried a variety of sweets, pastries as well as main dishes from Croatian Club, Korean Club, Chinese Club, Hellenic Club, SASA, German Club and Albanian Club that were selling. Each food that I tried had such great flavor and was prepared well, and I hope those that prepared the food sold are proud to show off their culture. The foods that stood out to me were the fried rice and noodles from Chinese Club, spanakopita from Hellenic Club and the samosas from SASA. Each of these food had great flavor, texture and presentation.

Each club sold each dish for what seemed to be a reasonable price for what you got. Every item was under 10 dollars, which I think it quite reasonable. All of the people who served food were welcoming and and made sure that you could get something good from that clubs’ table.

The only gripe that I had about the food and event itself was that by the time I had lunch which was during period 6, the food had pretty much gone cold. Next time I wish that clubs had food sternos or something else to keep the food warm. I’m sure that the food would taste much better if it had stayed warm when necessary.

In the end, the feast brought together a variety of dishes, cultures and experiences. My hope for next year is that the food stays at the proper temperature for all lunch periods and that more people come to the feast to try something from another culture. I am so glad that I got to experience and try things from other cultures!