HUDS Celebrates World Cuisine in Annual Festive Brunch

Students could choose among a more exotic set of offerings than the usual brunch fare of Veritaffles and omelettes Sunday afternoon at Harvard University Dining Services' annual festive brunch, which was themed “World Street Food.”

Street food items included fried green beans from China, currywurst from Germany, and taquitos de puerco from Spain. For dessert, students could try out gelato flavors such as espresso, mango sorbet, and Tahitian vanilla. Dining halls were decked in multicolored tablecloths and flags representing the origins of the food featured in the menu.

“Every year for the past several [years], we have put forward several theme menu ideas and we invite students to vote on them,” said Crista Martin, HUDS director for marketing and communications.

Students were asked to vote on the theme last semester as a part of a HUDS satisfaction survey sent to students in October. Of the 2,603 students who replied, 42.6 percent of them chose “World Street Foods” as the theme they preferred to see. The theme “United Nations” was second with 22.1 percent.

“Once we know we know what the theme is going to be we then talk about what recipes are going to be used,” Martin said. “It’s about what is popular. We also have to consider what people would like to eat and balancing the different needs of the students like making sure there’s an option for vegetarians.”

Students had mixed opinions regarding the special dining hall menu.

Julie R. Macdonell ’14 said she enjoyed the variety of choices available.

“It was fun that there was so many different options and a lot of cuisine that I had not tried before,” she said.

Other students said they did not completely appreciate the implementation of the special menu.

“I thought it would be a change from what we normally have, ” said Wafa B. Abdel Nabi ’17. “I tried the beef kibbeh from Lebanon and while the taste is not that bad, the presentation [left much] to be desired.”

“I didn’t want to try the Mexican Street Salad because I’m Mexican and I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing, but I give them an A for effort,” said Leslie J. Montes ’14.

The theme for last year’s annual festive spring meal was Brazilian Barbeque.

—Staff writer Kamara A. Swaby can be reached at kamara.swaby@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @SwabyK.