On December 1, Residential College NO. 2 Student Committee and the International Students Council of the International Campus, Zhejiang University successfully organized an evening of International Cuisine appreciation. Candidates from eight countries, including Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, took part in a cooking competition.

In order to let the faculty, staff and students taste the food from all over the world and appreciate the different food cultures of different regions, the candidates prepared their hometown food in advance, with the support of the canteen on our campus. Macro, a student from Indonesia, shared his carefully prepared meals enthusiastically. “We are cooking the most distinctive fried rice in Indonesia, with diced chicken and a sweet sauce that is unique to Indonesia. We hope everybody will love it. In addition to the fried rice, I prepared another main food – bakwan jagung, an Indonesian omelet, which is made from flour and fried with sweet corn, eggs, and vegetables.”

In addition, candidates from various countries prepared many dishes, including pasta from Italy, delicate Kazakh dumplings, sirloin with potatoes from central Europe, Ethiopian burritos, and home cuisines from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, central Europe, and the Balkans.

While the foreign students were busy in the kitchen, two Chinese students, Koh yiwen and Chen Wenhao, freshmen of the 2019 cohort, shuttled back and forth between the foreign students and the chefs in the canteen. They were the translation assistants for this activity. With their help, international students and canteen chefs worked together to make these dishes.

“Food knows no borders,” said Andrea, the president of the International Student Council. “There are many foreign students on the International Campus, Zhejiang University. Such a food festival provides people with an opportunity to learn about the cultural traditions of their respective countries while tasting the food.”

(Source: WeChat Official Account of the Residential College

Article: Jiajing Xu & Mengdan Tang

Photography: Jiayi Wang & Lichao Yang

Editor in Charge: Ping Xia

Translation:Jiajing Xu)