APID and Ed Abroad Cooking Collab
Making okonomiyaki and learning about opportunities to study abroad
Okonomiyaki, a Japanese cabbage pancake, was Jazmyne Calvillo’s favorite food to eat during her time studying abroad in Japan. It is a comfort food, a vegetarian “Sloppy Joe” that is a little sweet, a little savory, and just the right amount of crunchy. As the creator of Pacifican Cooks, when I heard she would be leading a demonstration on how to make these, I had to go check it out. She included everyone in the experience, which was so much fun and allowed all of us to get hands-on experience making the okonomiyaki. I was really happy with how mine turned out.
Prior to this event, which was made possible by a grant from University Studies Abroad Consortium (USAC), I did not know that we had a community kitchen in Calaveras. I was happy to walk into a room of about a dozen people, chatting and prepping ingredients. I spoke with Bhajleen Khalsa (featured in Highlighting Excellence #2), who said about the event: “We wanted to let people know that there are options other than DUC, and wanted to address that there are a lot of international students on campus.” Having a break from DUC food to make something I cooked for myself is always a rewarding experience. During this time of studying for the LSAT, I have found that home-cooked meals are the best brain fuel.
I am so happy to see that events like this exist to get people more comfortable with the kitchen. These events occur once a semester; this past event was a collaboration between Ed Abroad and APID (Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi students), and the next one will be a collaboration with Ed Abroad and El Centro. They will be making gyros. To anyone interested in hosting their own cooking event, the kitchen is available for booking and is completely free. Contact kitchencoop@pacific.edu for more information about reserving the kitchen.
This event was also put on to raise awareness about the 300 study abroad programs in over 60 countries offered through Ed Abroad. Students interested in studying abroad should contact edabroad@pacific.edu. Many of the students at the cooking demonstration had studied abroad, and you could visibly see the joy and confidence on their faces when they talked about their experiences.
Going to this cooking demonstration was the highlight of my week. It was so much fun to take a break from LSAT test prep to nourish myself with a good meal and meet new people. Many thanks to both Ed Abroad and APID for inviting The Pacifican to this event. I look forward to covering future cooking classes!