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Chicken Curry, Dal, Pulao, Okra, and Saag Paneer are conventional North Indian dishes that the Pant-Rao family enjoy on December 6, 2016. South Indians traditionally use more mustard seed in simpler dishes, while North Indians cook lavish meals with a lot of cumin.

International food options on campus differ from native cuisine

A person trying to enjoy international cuisine on campus might see some differences in the offered dishes from the traditional meals.

Although the dining halls offer some international options, they are often not accurate as to what is found in their country of origin.

Marvin Dotiyal, a freshman studying journalism, grew up in Japan where he attended an English-speaking school and lived in an Americanized neighborhood. During his years in Japan, Dotiyal ate traditional Japanese meals, and he said he sees some differences between the Japanese food here and what he eats at home.

“The sushi (in the markets) is not an accurate representation (of Japanese sushi),” he said. “In Japan, it’s actually raw fish. Here, there’s mostly just California rolls.”

Aside from sushi, Dotiyal said he doesn’t see many other Japanese cuisine options offered on campus. He said at the Asian section in Nelson Dining Hall the only food served that is traditionally Japanese is the sushi rice.

The directors and chefs that work for them are always looking for new items to add to their menus, and they are open to suggestions of adding new international food, OU spokesperson Dan Pittman said. Many international items they currently have were added after speaking with their customers.

Kisha Ravi, a freshman studying photojournalism, is from India. She was surprised to see the dining halls offered Indian food, however she said the options are limited and the foods look different than they do in India.

“Within the dining halls there’s a few (Indian food) options, but they don’t look like they should,” Ravi said. “I wouldn’t say there’s a wide variety.”

Ravi said she isn’t surprised by the lack of Indian cuisine options.

“I expected it,” she said. “People come (to OU) from all over the world. They can’t have all (the international food options) on campus.”

Hilarie Burhans is the owner and executive chef at Restaurant Salaam, which serves a wide mix of international cuisine including food from the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean region. She said she does her best to stick to traditional cuisine, but some of her dishes are of her own design.

Burhans said she has a chart in the kitchen that lists different spices, vegetables and garnishes for different countries' native foods that she and her staff refer to in order to keep the nature of the dishes intact even with her interpretations.

Burhans also makes sure to buy ingredients that are halal certified to give options to international students who follow that lifestyle.

Halal is a rule that tells a person of the Muslim faith what they can and cannot eat. Many of these rules center around meat. All of Salaam’s lamb is certified, and they don’t serve any pork products.

Burhans said many students that follow Halal eating guidelines don’t have a lot of options in the dining halls. She said many students that eat based on Halal guidelines usually eat vegetarian before they find her restaurant, which, according to her, is one of the only places on campus that serves Halal-certified meals.

Burhans said she does this to help international students feel included and give them options, even if their food isn’t identical to their country or origin.

“We don’t claim to be the exact food anyone’s mom made,” Burhans said. “But we try to be.”

@emilyy_doll

ed836715@ohio.edu

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