Students launch Colby Culinary Society
As students pile their plates with food in the dining halls, it’s clear that we have a love of food here on the Hill. But this semester, members of the newly formed Colby Culinary Society (CCS) are taking their love of food to the next level.
“CCS is a club that uses food as a vehicle to explore the flavors and traditions of different cultures. We strive to learn about food by exploring various cooking techniques and ingredients,” Co-Founder Sarina Strohl ’14 said. “Creating a social consciousness regarding food production and supporting local food production are two key goals of CCS.”
However, the club does much more than just talk about food. “Additionally, the club hopes to revive the deflating art of ‘mealtime’ by sitting together and eating the food we produce following our cooking sessions,” Strohl said.
Co-Founder Simran Jaising ’12 and Strohl created the club this semester after discovering their mutual love for food. Jaising taught a cooking class during the JanPlan of her sophomore year; the success of that class motivated her to continue sharing with others her passion for cooking and enjoying food.
“Because Colby is such a small campus, we were both informed of each other’s love for cooking, and we met to try and create something together—CCS is the lovechild of Simran’s technical interest in the science of cooking and my anthropological approach to cooking as an allegory for a culture’s general framework,” Strohl said.
Currently, CCS meets on Sundays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Pugh Center kitchen. The 15 active members exchange their Sunday meal credit for cooking ingredients, provided by Dining Services. “Anything unique or special that Dining Services cannot arrange, we purchase online or in town,” Jaising said.
CCS does more than simply cook during its Sunday meetings. “A typical Sunday would have a theme,” Jaising said. “So far, we have made a locally sourced meal with the Colby Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (COFGA) in which we used Colby-grown beets, kale, Swiss chard, cauliflower and cabbage to make a grand feast. We prepared the food with COFGA members and discussed their club and sustainable efforts while dining on roasted cauliflower soup with Parmesan kale chips, stuffed cabbage rolls, garlic Swiss chard and bacon and honey balsamic reduced beets with goat cheese panna cotta.”
Other CCS meal themes have included Indian-Chinese fusion food, to account for food served at the border of India, China and Nepal, as well as meals featuring comfort foods such as caramelized onion and bacon phyllo pizzas and mushroom-medley phyllo pizzas.
“We construct menus that allow us to talk about related issues while we eat,” Jaising said. “For example, during the Indian-Chinese meal, Sarina sent out anthropological writings which explored the culinary traditions in the temples of Tibet.”
CCS members would not be improving their culinary skills and dining like kings afterward if it was not for the dedication Jaising and Strohl put forth at the beginning of this year to make it all happen. “After we had outlined our ideas together, we had a table at the club fair and spoke with Associate Dean of Students Tashia Bradley, Associate Director of Dining Services Joe Klaus, Director of Dining Services Firouz Khaksar and Production Manager and Head Chef Wendy Benney. Meeting with them allowed us to plan some great joint efforts for CCS and the broader culinary society that exists at Colby,” Strohl said.
While the club fair helped draw in initial recruits, word of mouth has really worked in the duo’s favor. “Although ideally we would have loved to include everyone, with food endeavors, funding is a reality which limited our club’s membership abilities. Now, each meeting is a sort of advertising mechanism within itself. We constantly have people pop into the kitchen during the meetings to inquire about our meal. In that way, we are already succeeding in creating community around the food,” Strohl said.
Jaising’s passion for food extends beyond the weekly three-hour meetings as well. “I’ve been interested in food ever since I can remember,” she recalls. From playing with dough as a young child to presiding her cooking club in high school, she has always found pleasure in cooking. “Cooking is the way I express myself,” she said.
Her upbringing probably has something to do with that. She says her mother is a foodie who was always collecting recipes at the library and recording cooking shows on television. Additionally, growing up in the densely populated immigrant neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens in New York City, she seems to have been destined to be a chef. Flavors from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Tibet were available to her as she grew up. Living in such a “culinary hotspot,” Jaising said, “you just have to know where to find these treasures, and as a local, that was never a problem.”
Jaising intends to continue to pursue her dream after she graduates from the Hill in the spring. “I hope to pursue a career in the food industry. I hope to eventually attend culinary school in New York and maybe [earn] a master’s degree in food studies,” she said. “There is such a plethora of options, [from] recipe developing for food media and test kitchens to working in restaurants in a variety of cuisines. I’m carving my way, talking to who I can, trying to find where I want to start.”
That doesn’t mean she isn’t getting a head start. Jaising is currently getting kitchen experience in Roberts Dining Hall, under Benney’s supervision. Ultimately, her goal is to “create spaces and creatively use food as art to make people aware of various issues plaguing our society,” Jaising said.
And while CCS doesn’t always get to operate in the best conditions—with an inefficient oven and non-existent appliances, for starters—the two have high hopes for the future of the club. “I wanted to be part of a community that loves to cook, eat and talk about food, and I think CCS has successfully stumbled upon that.”
“The response has been wonderful,” Strohl added. “We have such a great group of kids involved….I learn new things from them each time we meet. I don’t think we could have asked for a better group of students to work with.”
Lindsay Putnam '12
