LEONARDO PARTNERSHIPS „EUROPE DEFINES UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN FOOD CULTURE” PROJECT DIARY PROJECT MEETING IN SUCEAVA, ROMANIA 6th – 8th DECEMBER 2012 The project “Europe defines unity and diversity in food culture” is carried out at the Economic College „Dimitrie Cantemir” Suceava, between 2012 and 2014, with partners from Romania, Turkey and Poland. Between the 6th and 8th of December 2012 the Economic College „Dimitrie Cantemir” Suceava held a project meeting with 14 teachers and 25 students who represented the schools from the partner countries.
The meeting started in a festive atmosphere, in the school auditorium, where the students and teachers were received by the school headmasters and representatives of the School Inspectorate from Suceava. The project coordinator, Nihat Karapinar, teacher at a school from Turkey, presented the project, the activities to be performed in the following two years and the project’s final products.
All the participants visited the school, the classrooms, the laboratories of informatics, public alimentation and hair styling. After the visit, the participants from each country, both teachers and students, prepared some traditional dishes, such as: the team from Suceava, Romania prepared a liquid dish – Rădăuţi sour soup and a dessert – papanaşi (cheese dumplings) with cream and jam; the Polish team carved ornaments from vegetables and prepared an appetizer – apple pancakes and a dessert; the Turkish team cooked a cold appetizer with couscous and pasta with yoghurt sauce and then served their famous coffee and Turkish delight.
After this artistic performance, all the participants had the chance to try the Romanian traditional dishes prepared by our high school students and aesthetically exhibited, and also the dishes prepared by each team.
On Thursday afternoon, December 6th 2012, all the students and teachers participated in a debate related to the importance of schools and public institutions’ involvement in European projects, at Suceava County Council. Each team presented their country, school, culinary traditions and experience in European projects. There was also a presentation of this ongoing Leonardo project and its final products, followed by a visit of the institution.
In the evening, all the students and teachers attended a Christmas concert performed by students from the Economic College “Dimitrie Cantemir” Suceava at the town’s House of Culture, where everyone could admire the traditional folk costumes and our Christmas traditions. On December 7th 2012, the project activities started with a meeting at school, where the partners presented the project website created by the Turkish team www.eufoodculture.eu and the blog created by the Romanian team www.europefoodculture.wordpress.com. We accessed these two final products, posted recipes; we shared impressions and came up with suggestions for improvement.
On the same day, in the afternoon, we attended a conference held at the University “Ştefan cel Mare” from Suceava, entitled “Changing food industry and science”, where each school presented their country’s culinary traditions and recipes; there were also debates related to the changes in the last 20 years in nutrition, the evolution of food’s nutritious and caloric value, the organic products – a new trend in alimentation. Thus, we could find answers for questions like: Why are organic products better? What is the difference between regular and organic food? Is organic alimentation better than regular alimentation? The meeting ended with a visit of the university and campus
On Saturday, December 8th 2012, the students and teachers visited one of the monasteries from Moldavia – Voroneţ Monastery - and the Egg Museum from Vama, where we admired the most numerous collection of eggs in Romania and one of the most important in Europe. The museum is an important sight for discovering the area’s traditions, the handicraft of Easter egg decoration famous around the world.
“The famous monasteries and museums from Moldavia are a tourist destination you must visit at least once in a lifetime” – this was the conclusion of the teachers from Turkey and Poland. This visit gave us the chance to admire the Moldavian religious architecture and to enjoy the spiritual wealth of the people who live in the area. After that, the students participated in some activities related to the preparation and serving of a few traditional organic dishes (Rădăuţi sour soup, cheese pancakes cooked in the oven, cheese dumplings with jam) at Voichiţa guesthouse in Frasin, Suceava.
The project meeting ended with a celebration meal, where we shared impressions and offered gifts.