On Thursday, students from Chippewa’s travel and tourism class embarked on a walking cultural food tour of downtown North Bay.
Their mission was to explore culture through visits to a few North Bay establishments that specialize in bringing international culinary offerings to the city.
Over the course of the day, they visited the food bank, Mr. Pancho’s Mexican Restaurant, and Dave’s Green Papaya.
"They walked all over our city, and thanks to their hosts, learned about the cultural background of many of the dishes they were served, including common ways of cooking and preparing food in each culture, and the influence of geography on food," said World Studies teacher Mike Brisson.
Their first stop was Arugula Restaurant, where students tasted authentic Italian pizza and were told about the importance of using quality ingredients, as well as the story behind their pizza oven and why it was important to fly in a pizza-oven-builder straight from Italy.
Arugula also inspired these students to make donations to the North Bay Food Bank by offering them complimentary pizza in return for their donations.
"At their second stop, students feasted their way through a trio of samples from Mr. Pancho’s Mexican restaurant. They tasted hot corn tortillas, authentic tacos, and delicious cochinita pibil tortas. They even had a chance to test their bravery by sampling a few house hot sauces," explained Brisson.
The students also enjoyed a stop at Dave’s Green Papaya, where they were served uniquely Asian foods including spring rolls, General Tao chicken, and pad Thai with rice noodles. It was here where they had a chance to try using chopsticks while enjoying their cultural experience.
“The best way to explore a culture is through its food,” believes Brisson. “And we’d like to thank all the establishments that our students visited today for offering them a chance to try new and wonderful flavours, to learn about different cultures, and to become involved in our diverse cultural community.”
