“The food festival was the best opportunity to get to know my fellow students' cultures through their unique cuisines,” said German MBA student Sandip Juthani. “It was a culinary journey through the world. I loved the spices of the Indian and Indonesian preparations, the Chinese duck, Peruvian pisco sour, and so on ... everything good you can imagine in one place. I loved it,” he said.
Dishes from 17 countries
Around 125 attendees from RSM’s Full-time MBA Class of 2017, Executive MBA Classes of 2016 and 2017, partners, and RSM alumni and staff attended the International Food Festival. The event was organised by the International Culture and Social Club, and Charity Club. Both clubs are part of the MBA Student Association, run by RSM’s International Full-time MBA Class of 2017.
The food stands, which were in Maria’s Cantina on campus, offered dishes from Brazil, Colombia, China, Georgia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Taiwan, and the USA. After a vote, the three winning countries were India, Portugal, and Indonesia. The Portuguese team was sponsored by the Portuguese Embassy in The Netherlands and Casa Bocage.
Sugar and spice
According to Pakistani RSM MBA student Hassan Mahmood, the food festival was “like the Powerpuff Girls: sugar, spice and everything nice mixed with a bit of X factor." He added that his favourite food was the German dish with roasted potatoes and spinach, served with egg pasta and cucumber sauce.
Spanish student Jose Luis Alonso said the International Food Festival was one of his favourite MBA events of the year so far. “It was awesome … great food, great drinks and awesome people that created an unforgettable atmosphere,” he said, adding that his favourite dish was the Portuguese cod.
Proceeds
The €1,254.70 proceeds from the International Food Festival, including the event’s entrance fee, food and raffle tickets, will be donated to the Eigen-Wijs project, which organises musical activities for children in refugee centres in the Netherlands to help them deal with their situation.
In addition to the food, attendees enjoyed the RSM MBA band’s musical contribution to this annual event.