UHDS News

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Nov. 9, 2011] — Since returning from a trip to Europe in September, Oregon State University senior Jillian Grant has tried and failed to find food that tastes like the cuisine she sampled in Greece.

“The food was so good, but nothing else has compared,” she said.

Then Grant stopped by Taste of the Mediterranean, a University Housing and Dining-sponsored culinary event held Wednesday evening at Marketplace West Dining Center.

She filled plates with humus, baba ganoush – a baked eggplant dish – and grape leaf-wrapped dolmas, and changed her tune about American-prepared Greek fare: the food, she said, was “amazing.”

The event is one of two annual University Housing and Dining culinary events in the “Journey Through Culture and Cuisine” series. Organizers expected about 800 attendees – OSU students and employees, along with people not associated with the university.

Rich Turnbull, associate director for University Housing and Dining, said the university’s culinary team had prepared for Wednesday’s event for the last six months by researching the region’s traditional ingredients and techniques.

“It was almost like going through a history of the spice trade,” Turnbull said. “We’re really trying to be as close to authentic as possible.”