International Food Evening #1

For those of you who read this blog (thank you, by the way!) but aren't friends or family, a little introduction to provide some context to this post.

I'm currently the President of the Erasmus Society at my university. That means that if I ever decide to go into teaching, I'll have had a years' experience of trying to herd Europeans into various clubs, coaches, castle and college tours - and lived to tell the tale.

Last night, we held an International Food Evening. It was, to toot my own horn, a total success (beep beep). I'd booked one of the larger rooms to hold the event, and when I got there at 7 and remembered just how big it is, I definitely had an "oh crap" moment. I had images of 40 people standing in the middle of this room that has a seating capacity of about 80, none of whom had brought food, trying to make my Victoria Sandwich and my VP's banoffee pie stretch to feed all of us.

Turns out I needn't have worried. By 7.05 there was a queue outside of people - most of whom had brought food - and by 7.40, pretty much all of the food had gone. I don't think any of us on the committee got even a look in, which was a shame because it all looked gorgeous.

This just taps into my long-held belief that food is something that really unites people. Whether it's offering to make a cake for a fundraising event or sharing food from your country with people who might not otherwise have a chance to try it - food brings people together.

So that's why, despite losing my voice and not getting a bite to eat last night, when I looked down from atop the chair I was standing on to speak to the society and saw everyone's plates full and all of the food on the side gone, I felt an enormous sense of accomplishment.

Ultimately, while I think that for these students, getting the opportunity to explore the UK and get a sense of what it's like to be a student in the UK for a year is incredibly important, food evenings like last night's give people a sense of pride - that was my dish I heard someone enthusing about! or noticing that all of the dish they'd made has been eaten - and it gets people mixing and talking to new people and trying new things.

It also gets you a cheap meal. What could be better?

Just a quick reminder as well - I have a twitter now, it's here, it'd be great if you could pop by and follow me there if you're a twitter-er (twit?)

Rachel Khoo tweeted me!

This lady became my food hero after I watched her programme and saw the kind of amazing meals she could turn out of a kitchen that was honestly no more than a camping gas stove and an oven about the size of a microwave. My dream of moving to Paris after graduation suddenly seemed that little bit more possible.

If she can make meals that make the French sit up and take notice from possibly the world's smallest kitchen, then I can do it in my full-sized (if somewhat cramped) kitchen in my student house.

As you can imagine, my housemate has begrudgingly agreed to be my guinea pig for when I do make something from her book. What a trooper.