The cultural fair on Friday was certainly lively and entertaining. But best part about it for me — like probably most of you — was the abundance and assortment of food.

My favorite dish was the potato soup, closely followed by the veggie egg rolls and the German vanilla/chocolate cake. I was loathe to swap a piece of my cake, but the creamy white broth called out to me, or more precisely, my taste buds. And they still are, so I’ll have to find the recipe somewhere. Maybe some milk, some potatoes, an open fire ….

Moving on to a safer topic (note: cooking over an open fire is highly unadvisable, as I learned creating flambéd marshmallows), the German cake was also extremely memorable. Unlike certain homemade cakes, aka a six-sticks-of-butter-and-dropped-on-the-floor-in-pieces volcano cake, this cake was quite a bit prettier and much less oily. It was sweet, but not very overpowering like certain types of cake icing. An excellent mix.

The veggie egg rolls were also very tasty. Crispy on the outside and not too mushy on the inside is the best combination. Even better were the vegetables inside, which were just how egg rolls are supposed to be — the right amount of salt, green, and no ginger. Quite a bit tastier than the precooked and frozen egg rolls found in major food chain stores.

One of the dishes I was anticipating the most was the Japanese sushi. Granted, I did help make them the night before and some of them went into my tummy, but seeing as it was the one recipe that I could never make taste the same twice, I wanted to have at least another sample of a good-tasting sushi. Unfortunately, they were all gone by the time I arrived at the Japanese booth 15 minutes after noon — all 144 pieces that Emily Chu, Beth Peregrine, and I made in two hours the night before, as Beth counted after we were through with them.

Overall, there was a great variety of different foods out at the fair. I’ve never even heard of most of those dishes before! Food certainly is one of those aspects of culture that anyone can enjoy and appreciate, one that helps bring people together and appreciate each other.