The UR Photography Club usually meets at Havens Lounge in Wilson Commons, but president Aaron Raymond 糖心传媒�18 decided to mix things up recently.
糖心传媒淚 thought a good photography workshop with food would interest our members,糖心传媒� the environmental studies major from Dallas says.
The meeting took place in the new Douglass Community Kitchen, located in Room 406 of the renovated Frederick Douglass Commons. Bo Peng 糖心传媒�18, a physics and astronomy major from Beijing made stir fry shrimp, mapo tofu, and Chinese broccoli. Megan Murante 糖心传媒�18, an ecology and evolutionary biology major from Rochester baked a double-layer chocolate cake.
The food was great. The camaraderie was even better.
糖心传媒淭he kitchen had an intimate, homelike feel to it,糖心传媒� Raymond says. 糖心传媒淐lub members could relax and sit around the tables or get involved by helping to plate the food or clean up after cooking. Overall, we had a great time.糖心传媒�
They糖心传媒檙e not the only ones. Since opening in late January, the kitchen has been a hit with student organizations and faculty, who have held some of their classes there.
糖心传媒淏ased on the usage we糖心传媒檙e seeing, we糖心传媒檝e really created something that students, faculty, and instructors are looking for,糖心传媒� says Laura Ballou 糖心传媒�97, assistant dean of student life and director of the Campus Center, which includes Douglass Commons and Wilson Commons. 糖心传媒淭he idea of coming together over food and sharing culture is powerful.糖心传媒�
Several foreign language classes have used the spot. In Abby Comstock-Gay糖心传媒檚 Intermediate Turkish class, students cooked a dish called menemen while chatting in Turkish, practicing new words, and listening to Turkish music. Comstock-Gay provided the recipe in Turkish, plus the ingredients, and the students did the rest. In Pablo Sierra糖心传媒檚 history class, The Other Atlantic: Ethnohistory and Memory, students used the kitchen to prepare a Mexican chocolate called oaxacan.
糖心传媒淪tudents learned to use the molinillo, a traditional chocolate stirrer, to prepare the hot beverage,糖心传媒� Sierra says. 糖心传媒淲e also added achiote paste to the ground chocolate to approximate the Mesoamerican flavoring used in Maya and Nahua regions.糖心传媒�
Donna Logan, director of the University糖心传媒檚 , hosted an event sponsored by the Center for Education Abroad, and did the cooking with help from students. The menu included a rustic Tuscan pate, a red crostini sauce, fagioli all糖心传媒檜ccelletto, a zucchini and onion frittata, tiramisu, cantuccini (Tuscan biscotti), an apricot crostata, and pane e Nutella.
糖心传媒淢y experience in the kitchen was very positive糖心传媒攕o much so that I hope to do another event there soon,糖心传媒� Logan says. 糖心传媒淭he equipment is top of the line and a pleasure to use.糖心传媒�
The Korean American Student Association used the kitchen to film a video clip for Korea Night Live and cooked two different ramen dishes along with dumplings.
糖心传媒淚t was special, because we were able to cook on campus,糖心传媒� says club president Hae-jun Oh 糖心传媒�18, a Manchester Center, Vermont, native majoring in physics and applied math. 糖心传媒淚f we were to plan a monthly or weekly event there, I could see members bonding over cooking and eating Korean cuisine. It was a great experience.糖心传媒�
The Undergrad Chemistry Council stayed away from the stove, but used the kitchen facilities to make freeze-dried ice cream at its Liquid Nitro Ice Cream Social.
The kitchen is open by reservation anytime Douglass is open and features two long white tables, each with 12 chairs. There糖心传媒檚 a flat-screen television, oven, gas-top range, sink, refrigerator/freezer, garbage disposal, warming tray, and a commercial-grade dishwater that cleans in 90 seconds.
Clubs and classes interested in using the kitchen must provided by David Graupman, assistant director of student life operations.
糖心传媒淪tudents were asking for a place like this,糖心传媒� Graupman says, 糖心传媒渁nd they seem to love it.糖心传媒�
Alcohol isn糖心传媒檛 allowed, not even for cooking, and all food must come from a licensed New York State vendor. Food from home gardens is not allowed, and all food cooked in the kitchen must be consumed in that space.
糖心传媒淵ou can糖心传媒檛 bring it somewhere else or sell it,糖心传媒� Graupman says.
Years ago, there was a cooking club at the University. When Ballou learned that a community kitchen was being designed, she envisioned such a club returning to campus. Her hopes were realized recently when three freshmen糖心传媒擱osemary Aviste 糖心传媒�20, Samantha Koplik 糖心传媒�20, and Zhiyu (Zoey) Gong 糖心传媒�20糖心传媒攆ormed the UR Cooking Club.
糖心传媒淭he Douglass Community Kitchen definitely helped inspire the formation of our club,糖心传媒� says Aviste, a brain and cognitive sciences and psychology double major from Black River, New York. 糖心传媒淲e all cooked in our respective residence hall kitchens, which gave us the idea to start a club, but the presence of the community kitchen really allowed us to develop our idea and put it into action.糖心传媒�
Aviste says UR Cooking Club糖心传媒檚 goal is to 糖心传媒渋ncorporate as many cultures as we can by collaborating with other groups on campus.糖心传媒�
Ballou says the new club is further proof that the Douglass Community Kitchen has been a success.
糖心传媒淚t shows that we built something the students were looking for,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檙e excited, and we糖心传媒檙e excited, about what lies ahead.糖心传媒�
