Charlo students cook cultural cuisine for community
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CHARLO — The Charlo High School Cultural Awareness Club whet their appetite with some of the world’s finest — and most interesting foods — at the International Food Fair last Tuesday.
The high school students cooked dishes from countries such as Germany, Malaysia and France and happily served the community everything from Mexican salsa con queso, to Irish stew and Turkish hummus.
They also displayed posters with cultural information and offered a wealth of knowledge about their country to guests nibbling on appetizers, entrees and desserts.
Due to the frightful weather — a mixture of snow, rain and hail — the turnout was less than expected, but members of the culture club didn’t seem to mind, and carried on in a cheerful spirit quite contradictory to the gloomy weather. They enjoyed their time, visiting and chatting with each other, while serving the few people who ventured out of their homes.
“The weather may have been a little hindrance,” Cultural Awareness Club Sponsor Carol Bucholz said, noting that it was still a successful event.
“Even last year we had so much fun just visiting with each other and tasting food,” Bucholz added.
The club consists of 18 high school students at Charlo and funds from Tuesday evening’s event sponsor the students’ field trip at the end of the year.
Last year the students attended some local cultural events and ended the day with dinner in Missoula.
Bucholz, who is a transplant from Colorado, brought the idea of a culture club from a school where she worked previously. She thought Charlo would benefit from such a cultural experience, too, and started the club last year.
Next year, she has decided to start planning and advertising the International Food Fair earlier in the year and hopefully entice community members to volunteer their time and participate in the activity.
She would also like students to bring in family dishes representative of their own cultural heritage at next year’s fair.
But as for this year, the members of the Charlo’s Cultural Awareness Club are a bit more sophisticated, having tasted a little bit of the world without leaving the safety of their school’s cafeteria.
