Out in Falconbridge, the Nickel Centre Seniors (NCS) Club is experiencing cuisine from around the world.
The premise is simple: What do you order when you go to a restaurant with food from another country/culture? Do you want to spend $30 on a meal and find out you don’t like it or go to a buffet and leave a lot of uneaten food on your plate? Probably not.
Thus, the food tasting nights were a go.
One evening in each of September, October and November, the NCS Club hosted a food-tasting night. The participants received samples of food and were not told what the dish was going to be. After trying the food, the host told us any cultural significance of the dishes and what they were made of.
This way there were no preconceptions about whether you would enjoy the dish beforehand.
In September, we welcomed Tandoori Tastes with a specialized cuisine from India and Pakistan. There were three appetizers, two main dishes, and two desserts. Each one was served to us, then the person in charge told us about each dish after we tried them. Some were served at weddings, some for good luck, and some were staple foods and a main diet.
We were also regaled with stories of how the family moved from Pakistan and came to Sudbury.
October saw Hiawatha Restaurant hosting our culinary gathering. We were served appetizers, mains and desserts. The food consisted of elk, bison, duck, bannock and more. Hiawatha Osawamick told us stories about cooking in the kitchen with her mother when Hiawatha was a child, and how the kitchen was a place of love and caring. You could taste this in the dishes that she served.
Finally, Damascus Shawarma was our host in November. The appetizers, mains and desserts were mouthwatering. We were delighted with stories about the family’s journey from Syria to Lebanon to Sudbury. The foods we were served were presented in the way they would be served in Syria.
All in all, the tasting nights were a success! NCS has received grant money to help seniors with socialization, learning, exercising, etc. We were able to use some of that money to pay for most of the cost of the meals.
We will be hosting more tasting nights in the spring, in April, May and June.
For more information, please visit our Facebook page, Nickel Centre Seniors Club.
Marlene McIntosh is the vice-president of the Nickel Centre Seniors Club in Falconbridge.