Dining

Corned Beef Contains No Corn, and Other Things You Didn’t Know About Irish Food

By |

Your life changes the day you realize that “sweetmeats” are actually pastries, “mincemeat” can refer to dried fruit cooked into a pie and ordering a plate of “sweetbreads” will get you a tasty calf pancreas. Misnomers like these just make you trust the world a little bit less. So, you can imagine how distraught I was to learn that corned beef has literally nothing to do with the yellow vegetable that grows on stalks. Well … almost nothing. 

“Corn” as we know it in Modern English has a rich etymology dating back to the Proto-Germanic kurnam, meaning “small seed.” This creates an obvious connection to the corn that we eat grilled with butter; what are kernels if not hundreds of small seeds lined up in a row? But Old English used the word corn much how we use “grain” today — that is to say, corn referred to the overarching category of small, granular cereals rather than to any specific plant.

Dining

Cultural Cuisine: A Slice of Home on Campus

By |

Cornell University is prized as being the most diverse institution in the Ivy League, with 46 percent of undergraduates identifying as minorities and 11 percent as international students. Students come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and often bring customs and traditions from home. The diversity of the student body brings with it a diverse palette. Cornell Dining, consistently ranked in the top ten dining programs in the country, prides itself on being able to meet the dietary needs of their students by serving diverse cuisine and accommodating various restrictions. The menus at dining halls frequently feature foods from a variety of cultures.

Dining

Would You Eat Horse Meat? — Understanding Cross-Cultural Food Taboos

By |

When we hear the words “food taboo,” we often conjure up horrifying thoughts of eating dogs or horses; you may gag, or your skin could crawl, at the idea of consuming animals which many Americans would consider members of the family. Yet ask someone from Salento, Italy, about their opinions on horse meat, and they may enthusiastically reply that it’s a delicacy often featured in dishes like pezzetti di carne al pomodoro. 
As food is becoming globalized, more countries are adopting what I would call the Universal Modern Cuisine — the diet most prominent in America, which revolves around grains and which, more importantly, holds many taboos against meat. As a result of this, the practice of eating horse meat is slowly declining, even in Italy. Regardless, Italy still remains the largest consumer of horse meat in the European Union, and its consumption is much more normalized in Italy than in the U.S. Given horse meat’s prevalence in Italy, it’s clearly enjoyable for many and must not have any adverse health effects for the consumer — yet most Americans would be extremely wary of any restaurant advertising this delicacy. Since we have already established that there is nothing inherently unhealthy or dangerous associated with eating horse meat, why do millions of people still avoid it for seemingly no reason?

Arts & Culture

Meme, Art or Campaign Ad?

By |

More than ever, what kind of memes you share indicates what kind of a person you are, and suddenly harmless deep fried content has the ability to take on a sinister life of its own.

barro

Food Ethics | Growing Up With Chicha de Jora

By |

I ran behind my mother as she walked toward the front door. I followed her knowing she was headed to the market. She looked back at me and smiled; she knew I never missed Saturday grocery shopping. She held my hand tight as I jumped around, the sun guiding our path to the market. As we stepped on rocks to cross the train rails, I finally saw the women selling chicha morada (sweet purple corn drink) by the entrance.

Dining

Food Ethics | Perú, Pepe and Prayers

By |

As a lawyer, my father traveled to other parts of Perú and even other countries following different judicial cases of interest, and he loved every day of his job. Whenever my father came back, he always brought interesting travel stories and sometimes even food. He was a firm believer in buying in bulk from people who lived nearby the sea or those who farmed. He loved seafood so much that he wished he could eat it every day, but he knew that it was not possible since he could not stop by the seafood market in Callao, Perú daily. Whenever he travelled by the coast, he would bring fresh fish back.

club recruitment

TRUSTEE VIEWPOINT | Club Selectivity Isn’t the Problem. Recruitment Culture Is.

By |

Albeit being just a four-day extended weekend, fall break comes as salvation for many students on the Hill. This is perhaps because of the unique stresses of fall at Cornell. On top of the usual academic responsibilities, students spend much of their time attending information sessions, filing applications and interviewing for positions. But not for jobs. For clubs.