Cultures, clubs, food and fun combined at Utah Tech University’s Encampment Mall for the annual Taste Around the World event.
Every spring, the Utah Tech Student Association invites clubs on campus to make and share foods from various countries.
Upon arrival, students were given a punch card with six slots that allowed them to try dishes from six booths. The club leaders would mark the cards once the students received their food to ensure there was enough to go around, but many booths ran out of food quickly because of the large turnout.
Many countries were represented, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Tonga, Mexico and Peru. UT’s Black Student Union and the Indigenous Student Organization represented their respective cultures and regions — the BSU served banana pudding for the southern U.S., and the ISO served fry bread, a historically-significant Native American dish made by frying bread in oil.
“[Fry bread] has history with the Native American people being oppressed and only having resources to make [it],” said Malia Delmar, ISO vice president and sophomore criminal justice major from Page, Arizona. “I think it represents the resilience of the Native American people, which is really beautiful.”
Tennis club president Andrew Romanchenko, a junior art major from Krasnoyarsk, Russia, shared a non-alcoholic version of Pimm’s, a fruit-based gin that was served at the first-ever Wimbledon Championship in London in 1877.
“Pimm’s is originally an alcoholic drink. Obviously, ours isn’t,” Romanchenko said. “We used some substitutes, but Pimm’s is basically more of a juice mixed with a few vegetables and lots of fruits.”
Other non-cultural clubs and organizations were present, including UT’s Healthy Trailblazers Coalition and the Tri Alpha Honor Society, which hosts events for first-generation college students.
The coalition handed out the Smeed Smoothie, which was an acai, banana and mixed-berry smoothie created by university president Shane Smeed. They handed out recipe cards that had the president’s picture and a quote from him regarding the drink.
“This is my favorite smoothie because acai berries are superfruits packed with antioxidants,” the card read. “They support heart health by improving cholesterol levels and provide essential nutrients like calcium and vitamin A. Most important, it tastes great!”
Tri Alpha shared root beer and cream soda floats, which is a treat they provide at each club activity. Club president Samantha Vincent, a senior psychology major from Woods Cross, shared that she wanted to interact with the campus community and other clubs by participating.
“I think most cultures revolve around food, whether we like it or not,” Vincent said. “What food you bring says a lot about you and your culture.”
Many booths shared Utah-specific dishes, including green pear-flavored Jello and a special trail mix meant to represent southern Utah. Local St. George staples, Papa’s Got Jerk and Nick the Greek, also had booths sharing food from their restaurants.
“I always like coming to this event every year just because it’s all the cultures, because we have international students too,” said attendee Erin Wortham, a senior English major from Henderson, Nevada. “We incorporate all of their cultural food, their drinks.”
Food and sharing meals are about togetherness in Wortham’s family, and she said sharing that with others is an intimate experience.
“Food is what brings people together,” Romanchenko said. “And that’s what sparks conversations as well… I think maybe it’s even culturally the most united thing in the world.”
