Students test their limits at 'Extreme Cuisine' food event
Central Michigan University students chowed down on Asian cuisine March 28 at "Extreme Cuisine," an event that is part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.
Hosted by the Asian Cultural Organization, the event was a timed competition with three rounds. Competitors were eliminated each round if they were unable to finish their meals in time.
While competitors tested their limits with these dishes, a powerpoint presentation was displayed behind them explaining the origins of each dish.
The cuisines featured throughout the night were Bean Curd and Chicken Feet, Century Eggs, Durian and Dinuguan.
These dishes are traditional Asian cuisine that many individuals who are part of the Asian Pacific heritage have eaten since they were young, according to the presentation.
“(I ate the) Durian fruit and the Dinuguan growing up because I was born in the Philippines,” said Grand Blanc senior Xavier-Thomas Mendoza, Asian Cultural Organization president. “At a lot of Filipino parties, like community parties, (Dinuguan) is like a delicacy. Usually it’s one of the plates that gets finished first.”
Starting with eight competitors, the competition eventually dwindled down to three contestants all battling for first place.
The final round presented Dinuguan, a thick stew made from pig’s blood that originated from the Philippines.
The Dinuguan was made by Asian Cultural Organization’s treasurer Battle Creek sophomore Nina Hedges.
Hedges took around four hours preparing the dish to make it close to her mother’s recipe.
When presented with the Dinuguan, the competitors began shoveling bites into their mouths trying to secure the first place spot.
However, the final round became too much for Chicago Illinois freshman Brandon Jones, who became sick and threw up.
Jones claims it was not the Dinuguan that was responsible for his sickness, but the Durian and Century Egg.
At the end of the final round, Alma freshman Cristina Smith was the winner of the competition.
Coming from a Mexican-American household, Smith was able to appreciate that others could get a perspective of a different culture.
“I think it’s a good perspective because something that’s weird and different for your culture may be completely regular for other people,” Smith said. “For me, I live in a Mexican-American home so my lunches would be different than other kids. (Other kids) wouldn’t understand and (would) think it looked gross, but to me it looked good and it tasted good and that was what I was used to.”
Extreme Cuisine is more than just an event for individuals to come together and eat. The event is meant to expose students to try new food and to give learning about a different culture a chance, according to the presentation.
“I definitely think a big pet peeve for me is watching people instantly shut down new things, especially food,” Hedges said. “They see something, they don’t want to eat it. I think this event is very big for us because a lot of people like the reaction, but I think the important part for me is to watch people realize ‘this is actually delicious’.
