Some college students are stuck in Pittsburgh, but long to travel the world. Last Friday, Carnegie Mellon students had the opportunity for a culinary trip to Singapore. The Singapore Students’ Association (SSA) held its annual food festival in the University Center’s Merson Courtyard. The festival's diverse and inexpensive offerings tempted even the least cosmopolitan palette.

The Singapore Food Festival is one of the many events SSA holds throughout the school year to promote awareness of the Singaporean culture. The purpose of the event is to showcase the different cultures of Singapore and to excite the palate.

The sounds of Singaporean regional pop and rock music mingled with the "mmmm"s of the crowd and the smell of barbeque that greeted guests at the courtyard. For the less adventurous, there were offerings like chicken rice, which is just what it seems, the tea egg, which is an egg hard-boiled in tea, and Guo Tie pan-fried pork dumplings. For the more adventurous, there was Poh Piah, a rice flour skin packed with ingredients like bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, egg, and prawns. Also offered was Wanton Mee, a dish of Cantonese origin that consists of egg noodles with char siew (barbequed pork) and fried wonton (pork dumpling).

Rojak combines pineapple, cucumber, chestnuts, diao (Chinese dough sticks), and tofu topped with a crushed peanut-sugar mixture. Usually this combination is coated with a shrimp-based sauce before it is topped with the peanut mix, but it was also served without the sauce so it could be enjoyed by vegetarians. Rojak has a delicious variety of textures, temperatures, and flavors. Sweet, salty, and chewy sensations all mingle together at once.

To quench the guests’ thirst, the festival offered Teh Tarik, tea and condensed milk, along with a traditional drink mix.

The dessert of choice was Agar Agar. Agar Agar is as cool and refreshing as promised. It is a clear, firm jelly that has an appearance much like Jell-O and is served cubed. It’s the clear choice to beat the heat, possibly even more refreshing than ice cream in hot weather.

Events like the Singapore Food Festival open the eyes and the taste buds to different cultures. Look out for similar events, such as the Asian Students Association (ASA)’s Dessert Festival this Friday, October 5. ASA is working with other organizations for their Dessert Festival, and will donate their sales to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts through Operation C.A.R.E. (formerly K.A.R.E.).

	story images

A student watches his friends as they prepare their dishes.	During their Food Festival on September 30, the students of the Singapore Students' Association (SSA) cooked homemade cultural dishes, which attracted many passersby to try some of their delicious delicacies.
SSA students mix the sauce for the dish Rojak.	Two students work together to cut slices of meat for their dish.
SSA students pick up the barbeque chicken wings and stingray to see if they're ready to serve.	SSA students check the soup as they pour more into the serving bowl.
A student grills barbeque chicken wings and stingray.	Many people attended the festival, trying out new foods and dishes while catching up with friends.
Two girls wait patiently as their dish is prepared before them.

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