Neighbors gathered at the event to feast on various types of foods. Photos by Catherine Stachowiak
The Kern River Valley Art Association held its very first Food Fest, International Food & Community Gathering, Sunday September 29 in Wofford Heights. The event was a no pressure hang out at the association’s Art and Community Center. Laura Tran, vice president of the KRVAA, helped Anneta Goldshtin organize it.
The event featured dishes from several different cultures. This affair was another, which tied in with the Neighbor to Neighbor Grant the association received, along with three other entities. Tran said, “Whenever you learn about different cultures I think you learn about their foods. Food is usually the one thing that brings people together. Having exposure to all the different cultures in a non confrontational setting is really nice too.”
Coming in at First Place at the event, Anneta Goldshtin won for her dish “Plov” a meal with rice and cumin from the country Uzbekistan. “It comes from the 1400 era, and Alexander the Great. It’s all around India. Usually it’s made with lamb, not with beef. But over here you hardly can find lamb,” she said. The dish is usually served with a tea beverage.
She filled her vending table with a lot of information about the country and wore an authentic costume from Uzbekistan. She told people that the nation manufactures cotton oil, which the dish is normally cooked with.
For Second Place the winner at the event was Sherry Bettencourt for the dessert from Germany, called “Pfeffernusse.” It is a type of Christmas cookie made with ginger, anise, molasses and cloves.
Third Place went to Peter and Marsinah Buchan who brought Mexican “Tamales.” Some of their tamales were made with red meat. Other tamales they prepared were mild green chili chicken and others were a hotter green chili chicken flavor. “They take a couple of days to do,” Marsinah said.
Winning an Honorable Mention at the event was Kalissa Maki who prepared a home made Russian “Borscht” from beets, cabbage, carrots and oxtails, garnished with black pepper on sour cream. “My Grandma was Russian and she made this all the time. And my mother made it. When I grew up, we would have this and the meat would still be on the bone,” Maki said.
Other dishes at the event included a “Trifle,” which is a dessert from England with cake at the bottom, lemon filling, custard, peaches and real whipped cream and garnished with maraschino cherries on top. Vikki Vega said, “My mother was born in the Falkland Islands and my grandparents were British. And so I grew up with all the British foods and traditions.”
Tran, who is Chinese, made a spaghetti squash chow mien style, which was a very unique choice and equally delicious.
