On February 15, 2019, I volunteered at Taste of OSU with the Lebanese Student Organization (LSO). In the days before the event, we prepared our dishes in the Ohio Union kitchen alongside the North and South Sudanese Organization, the Somali Student Association, and the Korean Student Association. I was worried about preparing food for such a large crowd, but luckily the LSO Taste of OSU Chair is a dietetics major who has experience working in large scale culinary environments. She took on the task of converting the ratios of ingredients in our recipes to be enough for 700 samples. We made a Lebanese dessert called knefeh which is made of a creamy layer of Arabic cheese sandwiched between two buttery cakes made from shredded phyllo dough and covered generously with orange blossom syrup. The second dish we cooked was mini chicken kabobs called shish tawook.
It was great to work together as a team during the lengthy preparation process. We cut plump chicken breasts and green peppers into bite-sized pieces that would fit on skewers. We grated an entire bag of whole ginger by hand and squeezed what seemed to be an endless number of lemons to make the perfect marinade for the chicken. While the knafeh dough was baking, we cooked tall pots of milk and semolina to add to the cheese filling. Middle Eastern food is labor-intensive to begin with, but making enough for 700 people was the ultimate challenge. As expected, running on “Lebanese Standard Time” meant that we were always the last ones to show up and the last to leave. We did make mistakes along the way—including our club president spilling half a pan of luscious, warm cheese mixture on the ground—but we had a lot of fun learning together and will remember those moments for a long time.
We decorated our table with wooden cedars of Lebanon (national symbol) and blasted traditional Lebanese dance music from a speaker. Our colorful display included pictures of Lebanon, a Lebanese coffee grinder, and wooden molds used to make cookies called maamoul. The kabobs and knefeh sat atop a red and gold table runner surrounded by wooden replicas of the cedars of Lebanon. While people were waiting in line for food, I talked with them about Lebanon. Although most people did not know much about the country, they were excited to expand their knowledge.
From the Indonesian sweet ondeh ondeh to the delicious Saudi lamb and rice, we thoroughly enjoyed the foods made by other groups. We even noticed similarities between dishes from completely different cultures. I was surprised to find that the Romanian sarmale tasted just like my grandmother’s Lebanese stuffed cabbage!
Taste of OSU was definitely the most enjoyable event I have attended at OSU so far. I have never seen such a large number of people from so many different countries in one place. To tell the truth, coming from a relatively diverse high school, I expected there to be more racial variation at Ohio State. However, at Taste of OSU, I was the minority and I loved every minute of it! Being with people from other cultures is where I feel the most comfortable. Everyone in Lebanese Student Organization agreed that it was so much fun to meet students from other ethnic clubs at Taste of OSU and that we are inspired to strengthen our relationships with them.