October 4, 2016

By Nayah James

The Organization of Latin American Students (OLA) held a cultural event in the dining hall this past Thursday called the “Hispanic Heritage Month Breakfast”, featuring many delicious favorites.

The dining hall was packed with students, majority of which were Hispanic, waiting to see what deliciousness dining services had to offer.

OLA presented Dominican students, faculty and staff with the full Hispanic food experience. Each person had the option of choosing from green beef tamales, chorizo eggs, refried beans topped with cheese, chilaquiles, plantains, pan dulce (colorful bread) and Mexican hot chocolate.

I enjoyed everything, but the tamales could’ve been better. My favorite was the Mexican hot chocolate I dunked the pan dulce in. I’ve always loved refried beans with cheese, pastries and chocolate.

Students enjoyed everything else that was offered, but a few agreed that the tamales were a let down.  Some students thought that, in general, the food should’ve been better.

Junior Vanessa Grajeda said she liked some of the options.

“I liked the chorizo eggs, refried beans and chilaquiles,” she said. “The tamales were not really what a tamale is, but I extremely loved the pan dulce and hot chocolate, it made me like I was back at home.”

Ashlynn Hill, also a junior, said her favorite was the pan dulce.

“I loved the sweet bread,” she said. “Overall everything else was okay especially the hot chocolate.”

Sophomore Gabbi Fusco said the taste and texture of the pan dulce was a really nice surprise.

“Food is so universally well excepted, especially by college students, it can be a nice way to expose individuals to other cultures’ cuisines,” Fusco said.

However, some students like senior Isa Alamilla were disappointed with the food because they believed the dining hall could do better.

“In all honesty, I did not like the food,” Alamilla said. “I’m not trying to be harsh, but I had a hard time finding flavor in it. I can’t be nice when I know the dining hall can do better, but the chorizo eggs were okay.”

The favorites of the Hispanic Heritage Breakfast were clearly the pan dulce and hot chocolate, but some of the other options were either good or needed improvement. I believe the next step from here is for dining hall to do a survey, allowing students to express their feelings on what was served and see what improvements can be made.

jamenaya@my.dom.edu