I scream. You scream. We all scream for churros. On Thursday, February 28th, Le Hewitt Bistro staff took us on an adventure with the Traveling Flavors of Spain. Twice a year, national Flik menus are influenced by specific countries and their traditional foods. Flik sends out a menu to each school, and each cafeteria picks from that menu based on what the ingredients that they have available. Last year, we only had one of these days, and the chosen country was Vietnam.
“We realized last year when we did Vietnam that when you have a day where everything is coordinated, it’s a much more enjoyable day for the students,” said Chef James.
Chef Alex came in and helped the staff make a meal that would make us feel as though we were truly in another country. The menu consisted of pechugas de pollo al ajillo, slow cooked chicken in garlic and lemon, seafood paella with chorizo, and Spanish style roasted root vegetables on the hot bar. The special sandwich was pressed with Spanish ham and cabrales cheese. The salad bar featured ensalada de navarra, asparagus, endive, and piquillo peppers. The soup of the day was chilled gazpacho a la Andaluza, and you bet it was pretty chilled.
Last but not least (insert drum roll here), churros were served during the last few minutes of lunch as a special treat. I think girls ran up to Ishmael to retrieve a churro (or two) faster than they run during a track meet. I even saw some girls dipping their churros into a cup of hot cocoa, imitating the Spanish tradition of dipping them into chocolate sauce. Needless to say, the churros were a big hit.
Aside from these two days a year, the kitchen staff tries to make themes for each day anyway. There usually just aren’t any festive decorations.
“The food seems to work together better and people seem to enjoy it more,” Chef James explained.
Pack your bags because the next stop is Turkey. Date TBD.