Diversity: Marietta College offers varieties of food for students

The Gilman Dining Hall at Marietta College celebrated Black History Month Friday by offering students a "Taste of Diversity" with a range of dishes inspired by prominent Black chefs like Carla Hall, Leah Chase and Lazarus Lynch.

"The students really enjoy when we do a change-up and can feature something special," Assistant Director of Operations Dawn West said. "Some of them eat here two or three times a day. And we like to change the experience for them sometimes. And if we can change the experience, educate them and highlight any particular group, we love that combination."

Dishes included sweet potato mash inspired by Chef Lazarus Lynch's love of sweet potatoes, as well as a ratatouille dish honoring Chef Carla Hall's favorite dish. Both Lynch and Hall are acclaimed chefs who have appeared on popular cooking shows.

"He (Lynch) was quoted as saying if he could eat sweet potatoes every day, he'd be in heaven," West said. "So, we featured sweet potatoes today."

Other dishes included authentic gumbo inspired by Chase, the “Queen of Creole Cuisine;” rotisserie chicken inspired by former White House Chef Andre Rush, who it is said eats four whole chickens a day; and chicken yassa, a favorite of chef and author Jessica B. Harris.

"Our idea today was just to highlight some famous prominent black chefs," West said. "Some of them have paved history, and some of them are newer, but still paving the way and so worthy of being highlighted today."

Options were also available for students who might have allergies or irritants to certain foods with the "Inspired Eats" section of the dinning hall.

"Which we're featuring gumbo and rice today," West said. "This at Gilman is always our or allergen-friendly zone. We have `Inspired Eats' every day. It gives food security to our students that have dietary restrictions and special needs."

West said she was looking forward to doing something special for Women's History Month in March and that the cafeteria staff is dedicated to using food as a way to educate students and highlight diverse communities.

"Next month is Women's History Month; we'll do something for that. We had Native American History Month; we celebrated that. We love to partner," West said.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com.