This Saturday, the Japanese Cultural Association at Plattsburgh is holding a food festival in Algonquin dining hall. The event will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and it costs $7 per person to attend.
Traditional Japanese comfort food that is not normally available to students on campus will be served. The food is meant to entice a home-cooked feeling into students who haven’t had it in a while or to be introduced to people who’ve never tried Japanese cuisine. J-CAP is teaming up with the cooks at the Algonquin dining hall to create authentic home-cooked Japanese food.
J-CAP is having the event to line up with Sakura Matsuri, which means cherry blossom festival. According to sakuramatsuri.org is typically a large one day celebration of Japanese culture in the United States. They are held in the spring to serve as the finale of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
The club aims to gain more recognition on campus and add some new members with the event Saturday. They also aim to give unfamiliar students the Japanese experience through the dishes they serve. The menu features dishes such as Korokke, a Japanese-style Croquette, which is fried mashed potato, Furofuki Daikon, which is Simmered Radish, as well as Match Cheesecake.
They will be serving Gohan, which is the Japanese word for white rice, as well as miso soup and egg rolls.
“We want to spread our culture,” said Tomoki Noguchi the Treasurer of J-CAP on one of the reasons for the festival. He also hopes people will want to further their Japanese culture experience after the event by joining J-CAP.
“The goal is to make authentic food to represent the different parts of the Japanese culture. Not typical restaurant food but food that makes you feel nostalgic after eating.” said Kotomi Terakawa the Vice President of J-CAP. She also hopes the event experience will induct some new people into their club.
The club was recently brought back on campus and will be officially recognized as a SUNY Plattsburgh club next semester. The club offers a good place to gain support, and share and experience the Japanese culture. They are also not exclusive to Japanese students only and encourage students from all backgrounds to come join their meetings and attend the festival.
The Japanese Cultural Association holds their club meetings in the Alumni Conference room every Wednesday at 8 p.m. They do fun activities, and introduce the language and slang to members as well as hold presentations and games. So if interested, check it out as well as the Japanese food festival Saturday, April 1. Tickets can be purchased online or at the information desk in the Angell College Center.
Email Whitney Leonardo at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
