About 15 students gathered in The Marketplace kitchen at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to cook and eat a traditional Moroccan meal as part of the Traveling Gourmet program.
The School of International Service and International Student Services co-sponsored the event, a feast that brings foreign and American students together to cook and eat an international meal each month.
"It's a mix of grad and undergrad students. We even have faculty and alumni show up," said McKenzie Milanowski, an International Student Services representative and co-coordinator of Traveling Gourmet.
Milanowski has been involved since the program began in fall 2003. Each month, student, staff or faculty facilitators provide recipes for a traditional meal from their country and supervise the food preparation and cooking.
"Everyone brings different tastes, different kitchen smells," Milanowski said.
Abdelilah Bouasria, a Ph.D student in the School of Public Affairs, and Kenza Moumni, an AU alumna and International Student Services staff member, facilitated Tuesday's Moroccan meal. The three-course meal included Moroccan tea; eggplant salad; lamb with prunes, fried almonds, onion, ginger and saffron; and shredded carrots with orange juice, cinnamon and rose water. Bouasria, who left Morocco in 1993 to study in Canada, England and now the United States, explained his technique for measuring spices in Moroccan dishes.
"Ainek mizanek," Bouasria said, "means 'your eye is your unit of measure,'" in Berber, the Moroccan dialect of Arabic.
Everything is measured this way in Morocco, Bouasria explained. Hot foods are typically cooked in a handmade clay pot, called a "tajine," to preserve flavor and heat. Then families gather around the pot and eat together.
Moroccan tea is cooked through similar means. Water, mint, Moroccan tea leaves and sugar are mixed in a metal teapot called a "berrad" and set on fire. "Berrad" literally means "something that cools." Because the climate is very hot in Morocco, for something to "cool the heart" means that it is pleasant, similar to the American saying "warm the heart."
This was co-facilitator Moumni's first Traveling Gourmet. She enjoyed the group effort and working with other staff and faculty.
"They are interested. They want to participate. It's a very nice group," Moumni said. "It's great to meet new people and learn about international cuisine because it's part of the culture."
Tuesday's Moroccan meal was the eighth Traveling Gourmet. Past meal themes included Peru, the Philippines, Mali and Turkey.
"My favorite dinner was probably the Peru dinner last semester," Milanowski said. "Peru was very popular."
Tiffany Bertrand, a freshman in SIS, will take over Milanowski's position in International Student Services when Milanowski graduates this December. This was Bertrand's first Traveling Gourmet.
"I think it is a good experience," Bertrand said. "It gives you a chance to become familiar with other cultures and their food."
Heidi Ashton, co-coordinator and SIS program manager, handles logistics for the Traveling Gourmet. She explained that different students participate in the program each month. The program is limited to 15 students "so people can talk to each other and talk to the facilitator," thereby optimizing quality interaction.
International Student Services is sponsoring several programs to help integrate international and American students, including the International Friendship Program, Global Nomads and Road Trip U.S.A.
For more information about Traveling Gourmet or other International Student Services-sponsored programs, contact McKenzie Milanowski at IFP@american.edu or x3350, or stop by International Student Services' office on the fourth floor of Butler Pavilion.
