SAGE, Sankofa Adjustments with Great Expectations, and a Taste of LBCC collaborated this past Thursday in order to showcase cuisine and culture from various parts of Africa.
On the menu were dishes such as Nigerian jollof, Sudanese falafel, Ghanaian beet juice, and Ethiopian curry.
Inspiration came about when Angela Fowlkes visited Ghana for the first time and planted the “seed” to host an event centered around African cuisine.
“When I went to Africa back in 2022 for the first time I had no connection to my culture. I never tasted the food, I never had any (African) clothing or friends or anything. So when I went there I got connected to my identity and so now this is a part of the seed from what grew there,” Fowlkes said.
Taste of LBCC President Julio Maya oversaw and assisted, when needed, with the various dishes that were being prepared.
None of the chosen recipes had long preparation times as Maya explained they had limited time within the facility.
“We put thought into them, they have to be quick recipes, recipes that can be made in the hour or half hour. That’s what we mainly do when we do these collaborations, we have enough time to eat, to sit down and talk and have time to clean up and get out of here,” Maya said.
The facility was also shared with other culinary students who were preparing ingredients for their class.
Joshua Campbell, a culinary student himself and member of SAGE explained that the recipes were not chosen haphazardly.
“We didn’t want to just pull some African recipes from the internet,” Campbell said.
Joshua Campbell, SAGE club president adds rice to a pan with broth to cook the Jollof rice dish originating from Nigeria. The Taste of Africa event which was a collaboration between the culinary arts students and sage club included five traditional dishes originating from African nations on Nov. 21, 2024. (Nick Eismann)
“We were able to find students apart of our club and on campus who are African or who are in more direct contact with family members who are directly from or even currently in Africa, so we were able to get those dishes and get those recipes,” said Campbell.
One such student from Nigeria provided his family’s recipe of jollof rice and noted the amicable feud between West African countries on who makes the best jollof rice.
There were no issues with acquiring the ingredients for the dishes as the LBCC’s kitchen was fully stocked, the only issue that Fowlkes noted was acquiring berbere spice–a spice blend that is a key ingredient in Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine–for the Ethiopian curry.
Dishes were presented individually with infographics placed near as attendees served themselves a plate of food.
Both club members sat and the background for each of the dishes was read out to attendants.