The Office for Global Education and Kent State Dining Services hosted their annual International Cook-Off, which celebrated the culinary talents of Kent’s international students Thursday, Nov. 20.

The cook-off marked the last major event to take place for International Education Week, which promotes global education programs for both American and international students. 

“The baseline concept for this event is for students to participate, enjoy their authentic culture through their food and for people to get together,” said Magnolia Par, a graduate student in the counselor education and supervision doctoral program.

Attendees were invited to enter the ballroom around 5:45 p.m. and were greeted by DJ Vince Giles, who was the evening’s official emcee.

Giles explained to the crowd the significance of the International Cook-Off before introducing the competing teams for the cooking competition: Brazil, Egypt, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Each team was tasked to create an entrée and had the choice to either pair their entrée with a beverage, a dessert or a side.

Throughout the evening, attendees had the opportunity to vote on their favorite dish, and the team with the most votes won the coveted People’s Choice Award.  

Additionally, the cook-off also had three official judges who chose their personal favorite team of the night. The judging panel included Kent State Sergeant Vance Voyles, Joe Robinson, associate director for the Center of Student Involvement; and Jennifer Cunningham Minnick, staff attorney with Student Legal Services.

Each judge had the opportunity to taste each team’s handcrafted cuisine and determine their top three dishes. 

“So, we started to work on it early in the semester and had a registration form that we opened in the second month of the semester,” Par said. “We got people who registered from around 10 counties, but due to limited capacity to take it and select it, we selected the countries that completed the whole application the earliest.” 

Par explained that they chose seven teams out of the 10 countries that registered and spent the months leading up to the cook-off coordinating with the teams and making sure that they had everything they needed to be successful in the cook-off.

After Giles introduced the basic layout of the evening, attendees were released to try a variety of dishes. 

Each country provided attendees a sample-size portion of their cuisine, which varied in terms of spice, sweetness and saltiness.

For example, Vietnam’s dishes were cha gio, a Vietnamese spring roll, and che thai, a Vietnamese chai tea, which are two traditional Vietnamese dishes that offer two contrasting flavor palettes. The che thai is a dessert that is extremely sweet to the taste, while the cha goi was more savory and filling.

Brazil also chose to create an entrée and a desert, with their menu consisting of cassava shepherd’s pie with plantain farofa, a Brazilian side dish made from cassava flour and sauteed plantains, and banoffee pie, a Brazilian desert that consists of a biscuit crust, layer of dulce de leche, sliced bananas and topped with whipped cream and cocoa powder. 

Other countries chose to pair their entrees with a beverage. The Sri Lankan team made milk rice, which was served in a chicken and cashew curry, but also served ginger tea with their entrée. Sri Lanka is a South Asian country and an island nation in the Indian ocean.

Nigeria, Nepal and Pakistan also followed this strategy by providing delicious sweet beverages that accompanied a more savory entrée. Egypt was the only country to diverge from offering a beverage or a dessert as their second dish. Instead, the team opted to serve their Bechamel pasta with stuffed grape leaves as a side dish. 

“This event gives the students the chance to present what they have put so much effort in because they’ve been in the kitchen for one day of preparation and a couple hours to cook,” Par said. “So we hope for them that they enjoy watching people experience their culture and enjoy the food.” 

Throughout the evening, Giles interviewed each of the team captains and asked them questions about the dishes being served at their table and their experience with the cook-off.

Each team leader expressed their gratitude and their excitement to share their culture to the Kent community.

Additionally, the night featured several interactive moments with the crowd, including a taste cam that captured the reactions of attendees trying their samples for the first time. 

Around 7:20 p.m., voting for the People’s Choice Award closed, prompting attendees to finish up their taste-testing. A few minutes later, Giles gave a brief thank you to the Office of Global Education and Culinary Services before honoring all the participating teams for their commitment and efforts within the competition.

After each team received a certificate recognizing their participation, the cook-off winners were announced. 

The first award of the night went to Sri Lanka, who won the most votes from the public and was rewarded with the People’s Choice Award for their well-crafted samples.

Giles then announced the top three teams chosen by the judging panel. The third place winner of the cook-off went to Nepal, whose team crafted a chicken dish with rajma paneer and ghee rice as their entrée, which was accomplished by atyadhik lassi, a creamy yogurt drink. The second place winner went to Sri Lanka, whose team ended up losing to team Brazil.

This marks the first time Brazil ever won the International Cook-Off, which made the moment all the more exciting when the team was recognized in the ballroom for their work that evening. 

“This event helps the international student community at Kent be recognized and also be connected with the other parts of the campus overall. It makes the community bigger and more welcoming,” Par said.

Ava Dunn is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].