Students dining in The 5 or the 459 Commons on Thursday will be able to enjoy a “Taste of Home,” stemming from a partnership between LSU Dining and LSU First Year Experience.
Director of Marketing & Guest Services for LSU Dining Charity Reeder and Program Coordinator for LSU FYE Kathryn Knaus are in charge of the event, which brings students’ favorite foods from back home to their new home at the University.
“‘Taste of Home’ was originally a part of the Bengals Beyond the Bayou program out of First Year Experience,” Knaus said.
Bengals Beyond the Bayou supports out-of-state students with the intent for students who are coming to Louisiana from out of state to get support for being so far from home in their transition and to teach them about Louisiana , Knaus said.
Bengal Beyond the Bayou is a programming series that offers many year-round events, such as “What’s the Big Deal About Jambalaya?” and various tours of Louisiana landmarks. While many of the events focus on Louisiana and its culture, Knaus said “Taste of Home” was a touch point for students from out of state to get students feeling like they had a bit of home here in Louisiana.
“For the last couple years, it’s been the same way,” Reeder said. “The students send in recipes to [Knaus’] office and she collects them and sends them to me and I send them to the chefs. [The chefs] pick out different, really nice recipes that they can create.”
Submissions from students get creative, Knaus said, as she has received recipes for dishes from fried chicken and mac and cheese to jollof rice.
The event, which takes place in both dining halls on campus, will also have different menus based on which dining hall students attend. While some popular items may cross over, there will be some varying dishes, Reeder said.
Reeder said that not all dishes served during the event will be a part of the “Taste of Home,” those that are will be marked with identifiers so students will know that it was a student’s pick.
“The chefs do as many things as they can,” Reeder said. “I told them to at least pick ten from the list to make sure that they have on the line.”
Both Knaus and Reeder believe this event to be a success, as it has continued to come back every year that since they have been at the University.
“I think that people have really enjoyed that we’re just reaching out,” Knaus said. “It does seem like students really like that little personalized touch, that we actually care about what they want.”
Pre Veterinary Medicine freshmen, Sarah Cousin (Left) and Marissa Orlando (Right) head down the stairs on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016 at the 459 Commons.
