Circuit 9 - The Food Issue

a publication of the whitman pioneer

THECIRCUIT FALL 2013: THE FOOD ISSUE

9

O EDITOR’S LETTER

ne of my earliest childhood memories is of stealing raw dough that my mother had left to rise on our kitchen table to make bánh bao (Vietnamese pork steamed buns). I remember pinching off three small pieces and running to hide under my parents’ bed in the room next door to quickly gobble down my dough without getting caught, and then quickly worrying that the yeast in the dough would force my stomach to explode. I no longer like the taste of raw dough, nor do I worry that eating raw dough will result in anything more than a tummy ache, but stolen moments of times like these are what I look back on most fondly.

Maybe it’s just that my mom is a really good cook (and I mean really good, not to brag or anything...), but many of my childhood memories are intertwined with moments at the kitchen table — reluctantly helping my mom to shuck green beans before heading out to play with my next-door neighbor or slurping down a large bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) after a morning of Sunday school and church. I admit that I don’t always prioritize cooking and eating when I feel like I’m running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

I love to cook dinners for friends and family during holidays and in the summer when it seems that I have infinite amounts of time, but I largely survive on fried eggs, ramen bowls and frozen vegetables during the school year. That being said, I love that despite my choices and thoughts on food, I can always seem to connect with others simply by talking about food.

From those who tout themselves as Bon Appétit connoisseurs of the ice cream machine to those who live off-campus and heat up a microwave dinner from LeanCuisine to the politics majors passionate about food justice, many Whitman students hold deep feelings toward food, and we the staff of The Pioneer, are no different. Aleida Fernandez writes about the tradition of Tommy’s Dutch Lunch, Walla Walla’s famous diner that originally opened in the 1930s (page 7), Evelyn Levine discusses off-campus dining (page 33) and Isabel Mills reflects on holiday food traditions (page 12). Of course, no food issue is complete without a display of food photos. Catie Bergman documents the breadmaking process at the Walla Walla Bread Company (page 27), and Marra Clay captures the warmth and ambiance of the Colville Street Patisserie (page 20).

Of course, special thanks for this issue goes to the Associated Students of Whitman College (ASWC) for their financial support, our faculty advisor Professor of History Julie Charlip, and alumna Megan Salzman Medica ‘81 and her husband John Medica, whose generous donation has helped jump start The Circuit.

This issue is a reflection of our thoughts and feelings about food. Our hope is that not only will you pick up this issue to read about how we feel about food and gaze at the photos that have captured beautiful moments in time, but also to use this issue as a chance to connect and discuss with other Whitman students on this very wide and varied topic. So, sit back and relax with a warm cup of tea in hand as you peruse through these pages.

With warmth and love, Shelly Le Editor-in-Chief editors@whitmanpioneer.com

EDITORIAL PRODUCTION Editor-in-Chief

Production Manager

Managing Editor

Production Associates

Shelly Le

Pam London

Editors

Sarah Cornett Aleida Fernandez Molly Johanson Karah Kemmerly Dylan Tull

Maddi Coons Jess Faunt Molly Johanson Marianne Kellogg Jesse Moneyhunn

Chief Copy Editor

Photography Editor

Matthew Nelson

Illustration Editor

Natalie Berg Lauren Sewell Flora Sheppard

Catie Bergman

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Sean McNulty

Luke Hampton

Web Editor Ben Schaefer

Copy Editors

The Circuit is a publication of the Whitman Pioneer.

THE CIRCUIT

The Pioneer is an entirely student-run publication published under the auspices of the Associated Students of Whitman College. Questions and letters to the editor can be submitted to editors@ whitmanpioneer.com. All submissions must be attributed and may be edited for concision and fluency.

The Pioneer operates under the guidelines of its code of ethics, a document that is reviewed at least once per semester.

To access the complete code of ethics of The Pioneer, please visit whitmanpioneer.com/about. For information about subscriptions or advertising, please contact business@ whitmanpioneer.com.

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BREWING CULTURE WW BREAD CO. COLVILLE PATISSERIE FAMILY RECIPES TOMMY’S LUNCH

DINING HALLS

7 1020273134

SETTING TABLES Walla Walla’s Food Pantry and its volunteers accommodate increased community need

by HANNAH BARTMAN

T

he Food Pantry of Walla Walla is tucked into the basement of the First Presbyterian Church on First Avenue and Poplar Street. This modest facility, taking up only two rooms of the church, is run by an equally modest volunteer community that works together to provide food for those in need. Tom Galloway, the food bank’s manager, speaks below an impressively groomed mustache in a slow and calculated drawl, listing his duties and his history in the food management business.

“I retired and moved to Washington and found that retirement wasn’t all it was cracked up to be,” said Galloway. “I have since learned that the people here appreciate the food more than the paying customers.”

The majority of the clientele that go to the Food Pantry for assistance are between the ages of 18 and 55. In the past month alone,

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the Pantry served 904 clients, 694 of whom were returning customers. The number of customers also increases at the end of the month, a time when food stamps and other social services are running low and extra assistance is needed. “[Before working at the Pantry], I had never used or heard the term ‘working poor’ before, but there seems to be a lot of those,” said Galloway. “With the economy and the health issues happening now, I think we’re going to see more people.”

In the last week of October alone, the Pantry served 52 households — one of the highest number of families served in one week ever.

The question of why need has increased so much has an ambiguous answer. Who or what is the cause of inequality that creates this need for philanthropic assistance? Galloway believes that possibly the current turbulence within Health Care is causing more people to be laid off,

as employers do not want to pay extra benefits for full-time employees.

Whatever the cause, Galloway states that there is a need, and Walla Walla’s food bank is one of the best in the area at accommodating that need.

“I think the people that need the help are pretty well taken care of in Walla Walla,” he said.

Walla Walla’s assistance for those in need include the Christian Aid Center which provides housing and meals, three food pantries and free soup lunches served at various churches Monday through Saturday.

Galloway seems to take pride in the ways in which the Food Pantry differentiates itself from its other food bank counterparts. Usually food banks only serve to customers with a food card, which they can receive through registering with Helpline, but the Food Pantry will serve anyone who comes to its door. Also, instead of giving a pre-made pack

IN WALLA WALLA

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“[Before working at the Pantry], I had never used or heard the term ‘working poor’ before, but there seems to be a lot of those. With the economy and the health issues happening now, I think we’re going to see more people.”

-Tom Galloway, The Food Pantry Manager

age to customers, Galloway makes a list of the food available to customers and allows them to choose what food they would like to receive. “[The Food Pantry] started [giving menus] years ago because they used to hand out bags of food and they would find things like rice, or things people didn’t want on the stairs or driveway,” said Galloway.

Walla Walla runs on an interconnected food distribution network through the Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC). BMAC receives food from local food drives, gleaning projects and grocery stores such as Albertson’s and Walmart, among other sources. The three food kitchens in Walla Walla then receive their food from BMAC. The Food Pantry in particular receives about 60 percent of its food from BMAC. They acquire the rest of their food with grants and donations from local churches.

One way in which Whitman College contributes to this process of food assistance is through the newly formed Gleaning Club. The Gleaning Club travels to farms where there is extra produce, harvests the crops and takes the food to BMAC, where BMAC employees distrib6 | TheCircuit

ute it accordingly. President of the Gleaning Club sophomore Sam Curtis recognizes the importance of acting for others, but he also wishes he could find a way to incorporate face-to-face contact with the people who receive the gleaned food.

“Doing any philanthropy, you can have some sort of satisfaction from it, but if you have a personally emotional experience by seeing who it benefits and how they need it is what gives you the passion to do it,” said Curtis.

Sophomores Alec Foote and Tate Jacobson are two other students whose actions contribute humanitarian goodness in Walla Walla. They took part in the biannual food can drive hosted by BMAC in October of 2012 by taking bags to houses and then returning and retrieving the bags filled with cans.

While they commented on the difficulty of finding food bank volunteer opportunities, they think it’s important for students to incorporate volunteerism into their extracurricular activities on top of their academic commitments.

“I just feel that perspective is definitely important,” said Foote. “People get locked into their own lives

too much and their own problems, and I feel like it would help them to open up a little and see that a lot of people have it worse than they do.”

Similarly, Jacobson stresses the importance of balance in a schedule full of schoolwork.

“Whitman is such an academic environment it seems that people’s time is 90 percent academic and 10 percent unwinding,” he said. “It would be nice if there was something to balance that.”

While the importance of volunteerism is a simple concept to digest, making time is not so easy.

Galloway states that he has never had a Whitman student volunteer in the two years that he has been manager of the Food Pantry.

“We build a schedule around [the volunteer] availability and we need reliability with volunteers, and with students you don’t get reliability because they’re a lot busier than retirees,” said Galloway.

Walla Walla has a strong support network for those in need of assistance. The Whitman community, while it may prioritize academics, also attempts to interact with this community in its own way, whatever that way may be.

Tommy’s Dutch Lunch:

never leave hungry

by ALEIDA FERNANDEZ

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W

hen I first walk into Tommy’s Dutch Lunch, a small greasy spoon down W. Pine St., it’s immediately obvious that the restaurant is a place full of stories. The decor is straight out of the 1970s and the walls are littered with paintings and a Union Bulletin profile from a few years ago. It’s also immediately obvious that Tommy’s — as it’s affectionately called — is a place full of love.

When I sit down with Amy McMann, Tommy’s fifth owner, she is surrounded by a group of friends just finishing up their lunch. They are getting ready to leave when one of the group members nudges me. He tells me something that will become the unofficial mantra of the interview.

“If you leave hungry, it’s your own fault,” he says.

McMann jokingly rolls her eyes.

“Ignore the peanut gallery,” she says.

A Boxer and a Restaurant

to three other owners, until McMann bought Tommy’s in 1999.

McMann grew up on a farm in the Eureka area. As a child, her parents were fond of Tommy’s and brought her to the restaurant frequently. McMann had always been a hard worker and fast learner, so when the restaurant went up for sale in 1999 her father asked her if she had ever thought about owning a restaurant.

“I said, ‘What part of the rocker did you fall off of?’” McMann recalls. “That was September of 1999. My first official day was November of that year.”

From the start, McMann took on everything. She learned how to cook in two weeks by shadowing one of the cooks and then continued as wait staff, cleaner, cook, delivery truck driver or anything that was needed. It was very soon into her tenure, however, that McMann realized that work was not the only thing she bought herself when she purchased Tommy’s; a loyal constituent was also part of the deal.

Tommy’s Dutch Lunch was opened by Tommy Gardner and his wife Helen in 1934. A local middleweight boxer, Gardner delivered dry cleaning while Helen ran the restaurant. The original restaurant was just a counter and the kitchen, which served the original “Dutch Lunch:” potato salad, cut meats, cheese, rye breads and a make-your-own sandwich.

Soon after Gardner was forced to quit boxing due to contracting polio, the restaurant began to flourish. Gardner joined Helen full-time at the restaurant, but the couple divorced just a few years later. Gardner married his second wife, Dolly, and they continued to run the business until they retired “It’s the People.” in 1971. After their retirement, Sitting with us during the interthe business was handed over view is Sharon Wilson. Wilson met 8 | TheCircuit

McMann seven years ago when Wilson’s husband called up the restaurant to ask about their soup of the day.

“What do you want?” the waitress responded.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Wilson asked if she could help McMann behind the counter — it’s a tradition at Tommy’s that if someone asks to help, they are put to work. Wilson and McMann took a liking to each other and have been friends ever since.

Wilson continues to work at Tommy’s, running small errands for McMann. It’s obvious from the

moment that Wilson starts talking about McMann that there is a lot of love and respect between the two. Oh, and Wilson assured me the soup that day was delicious.

Many years ago, W. Pine St. was the old US-12 highway, and the bustling road was dotted with canneries and other farm vocations. Workers from these businesses would come to Tommy’s for their cheap coffee and big breakfast. When US-12 became Pine St., the canneries closed, but Tommy’s retained a loyal following. This was due in part to McMann’s communal and welcoming

atmosphere. There is a “community table” at the front of the restaurant that anyone can sit at and eat a meal with Tommy’s staff or other members of the community.

Patrons can also sit at the counter that overlooks the kitchen where it is not uncommon to receive a challenge or two from the cooks.

“In my early days, I’d see if people could flip the pancake,” said McMann.

Today, Tommy’s is mostly packed with farmers, construction workers, the recently and notso-recently widowed and penitentiary workers from the new training facility down the road. Some workers from the old canneries still stop by for coffee every Tuesday morning. Students from Walla Walla University and Whitman College make up another set of customers, if only for a few years.

“A lot of hungover students come here,” says McMann with a wink.

“You can tell because they always order water first — but don’t print that!”

While Tommy’s is a small establishment, McMann and Wilson agree that it’s the people who make Tommy’s the most rewarding.

“Even if you come by yourself,” said Wilson, “you don’t end up by yourself because there’s so many people here.”

They identify the two men eating behind us as a couple of regu-

lars. When I leave after my interview, the older gentleman stops me in the parking lot to chat about Tommy’s. Gary (he did not provide his last name) works down the road and has come here with two of his boys about once a month for the last 30 years. It’s the big personality and bigger food that he likes best. He’s also never left hungry.

Never Leave Hungry

When I return Saturday morning for breakfast, waiter Lee Mercado jokes around with me as if I was a regular. It’s a busy morning and the community table and counter seats are completely full with regulars. Throughout our interview, McMann and Wilson had raved about the pancakes but warned me that I better specify the size I want. She laughs as she recalls one time when a customer told her they wanted a “big” pancake, so she made it as big as a serving tray. I decide to give them a try — no specification of size. When the meal comes out, it’s immediately obvious she wasn’t kidding around.

After breakfast, the community table has opened up, so, stuffed from my meal, I sit down to chat. Community members Archie Reid and married couple Kris and Rich Eagon are there waiting for their breakfast. Reid and the Eagons are regulars who met each other through the community table and bonded over politics and eggs. They joke with me for a while before they explain why they started coming to Tommy’s.

“It’s quantity, not quality,” jokes Reid. “[It’s] a reasonable amount of money for a lot of food.”

Kris gives a more serious answer.

“It’s a good place to come and be with your friends,” says Kris. “Doesn’t matter who’s here.”

Their food comes out, and I ask them — just to be certain — if they’ve ever left Tommy’s hungry. Laughing, they take a bite of their eggs.

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Profile

Holiday Recipes: Cuccidati (Christmas Fig Cookies)

Winter Fruit Salad

. Acorn Squash Macaroni and Cheese

by Karah Kemmerly

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T

he winter holiday season is my favorite time of year. I love lights and winter coats and drinking hot tea. Winter is also a great time to whip up cozy eats and holiday treats. I hope you have fun trying these simple winter recipes!

T

his cookie recipe was inspired by one of my family recipes. Every year, my Sicilian great aunt bakes dozens of Cuccidati, packs them each in Ziploc bags and gives them out to all her relatives. I altered her recipe a little, but they still look as festive as the originals.

Cuccidati

Dough Ingredients: 4 cups flour 1.5 cups sugar 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/4 cup milk 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup milk 3 eggs Filling Ingredients: 3/4 cup dried figs 3/4 cup raisins 1/2 cup dried cherries 1/2 cup walnuts 4 oz. semi-sweet bakers’ chocolate 1/4 cup sugar 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup rum

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Finely chop dried figs, raisins, dried cherries and walnuts in a food processor. Pour the mixture into a bowl and add sugar, water and rum.

3. Melt the bakers’ chocolate in a pot on the stove.

Add it to the rest of the filling.

4. Cover and refrigerate bowl of filling for 24 hours.

5. The next day, add all the dough ingredients in a bowl and mix together with an electric mixer.

6. Using your hands, roll the dough into two manageable logs. Flatten out each log into strips, each about two inches wide.

7. Spoon small balls of filling onto one dough strip.

Leave space in between each filling ball and leave a little space on the borders of the dough as well.

8. Place another dough strip over the filling balls.

Press dough down around the filling balls, and cut between the filling balls to create ravioli cookies.

9. Repeat process until dough and filling are gone.

10. Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes. Enjoy!

Acorn Squash Macaroni and Cheese

T

his recipe was the product of fortunate timing. I bought an acorn squash at the grocery store a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t actually sure what to do with it. Then while I was reading through some of my vegan cookbooks, I stumbled across a sweet potato pasta recipe I really love, and I was inspired to mix the acorn squash with pasta. This is a comforting recipe for cold days, and the cheese makes it a crowd-pleaser. You could make it with roasted butternut squash, and it would be just as tasty!

Winter Fruit Salad

Ingredients: 1/2 lb. pasta 2 cups diced, roasted acorn squash (roughly half a squash) 1 1/4 cup veggie broth 2 Tbsp margarine 1 cup milk 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese salt pepper cayenne pepper flour

Ingredients: 1 Braeburn apple 1 Granny Smith apple 1 orange 1/2 cup almonds 1/2 cup craisins 2 Tbsp maple syrup 1 tsp cinnamon 2 Tbsp lemon juice

1. Cut acorn squash in half. Rub each half with a little bit of margarine and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast squash in oven preheated to 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

2. After squash is done and cooled, cook pasta. Set aside.

3. Cut half of squash into cubes. In a large pan, sauté cubes with 2 Tbsp margarine over medium heat.

4. Add 1 1/4 cups broth. Reduce liquid by half.

5. Grate 4 oz. cheddar cheese and add to pan. Stir to help cheese melt.

6. Add 1 cup milk. Add a Tbsp or two of flour to help sauce thicken.

7. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

8. Mix cooked pasta into sauce. Enjoy!

I

often have a fruit salad as a quick breakfast before class. This colorful salad uses some of my favorite fall and winter flavors, like cranberry and maple. Plus, it’s an easy side dish to throw together if you’re busy studying for finals or preparing for the holidays. Feel free to add some of your favorite fruits!

1. Cut apples and oranges into bite-sized pieces.

2. Mix in a festive bowl with almonds and craisins.

3. Add maple syrup, cinnamon and lemon juice. Mix well. Enjoy!

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Students share their winter holiday Pio Fo Photo Essay traditions, including rollerskating for New Year’s Day and making tasty Swedish desserts.

by Isabel Mills

KEEPING WITH TRADITION A

sking people about their holiday traditions leads to incredibly diverse responses, from candles to nativity scenes to roller-skating to teddy bears. Whether the basis is cultural, religious, traditional or just for fun, no two people have exactly the same traditions.

For senior Maikor Pereira Azuaje, the holiday season starts in September. Pereira Azuaje, an anthropology major and geology minor, moved to the United States from Venezue12 | TheCircuit

la to attend Whitman College.

In Venezuela, a country heavily influenced by Catholic culture, Christmas is celebrated a little differently than in the United States.

“We celebrate Christmas in September, and it goes to the end of October. We still celebrate the one in December because everyone else is doing it. And for that one, we get a break from school.

So the traditions are kind of shaky right now because of globalization and Americanization,” he said.

Pereira Azuaje describes his faith as Christian Protestant, and his family traditions focus on the birth of Jesus. Instead of decorating a tree, they make their own nativity scenes.

When Pereira Azuaje thinks of Christmas, he doesn’t think of snowy pine trees. Instead, a scene of date trees and camels in the desert comes to mind. His family celebrates Christmas in September because they believe Jesus was actually born around that time of year.

Pereira Azuaje’s grandmother told

him that Jesus couldn’t have been born in December because the Israeli shepherds who visited the manger would not have taken their sheep outside in such cold weather.

“I think the birth of Jesus used to be more central. And since he is the birthday boy, we don’t get or The Holidays presents on [Dec.] 25 or 24. We get our presents on the sixth of January, which is the day of the three wise men. They’re the ones that bring the presents in the Bible, so we believe they are the ones that bring us presents. So we leave water and grass for their camels,” said Pereira Azuaje.

Just when Pereira Azuaje’s celebration of Christmas came to an end this year, Diwali occurred on Nov. 3. Senior Nandini Rathi, who is originally from northwest India, has grown up celebrating Diwali. This year was the sixth holiday she celebrated away from home.

Diwali is a Hindu festival, also known as the festival of lights.

“The most popular story is that [Diwali] is about the homecoming of one of the gods. He comes back after having defeated his archenemy who had abducted his wife.

He is victorious, and Diwali celebrates his coming home. Culturally it’s a lot about reuniting with family. It’s also the time when, according to the Hindu calendar, it’s the New Year,” said Rathi.

Rathi fondly remembers the delicious food that her relatives and neighbors prepared during this festive time. Some of the desserts include kaju katli, a diamond-shaped treat made from cashews; gulab jamun, a soft sweet coated in syrup; and laddu, a flour-based dessert that Rathi’s grandmother makes every year.

Although Diwali is a religious festival, religion does not always have to be the main focus. Rathi said that many people born into Hindu families do not identify as religiously Hindu. Culturally the festival is Hindu, but it can be more about a fun time rather than worship if that’s what you wish it to be.

“I think there are many ways one can interpret a festival. This festival has some other stories as well, so other people have different reasons of why they celebrate. But it doesn’t matter what the reason is since they are all good reasons,” said Rathi.

Later in November, most students born in the United States start looking forward to Thanksgiving break. There is a stereotypical scene that comes to mind when one thinks of Thanksgiving, but for many families, this isn’t accurate. For example, my family spends Thanksgiving hunting deer and spending the night in a small cabin on the outskirts of Kodiak Island in Alaska.

Sophomore Audrey Thimm has fond memories of Thanksgiving with her grandmother each year.

“No one is allowed to drink in her presence, and the mere mention of alcohol would provoke an ad nauseum rant of the perils of adult beverages. So imagine my surprise when I found a bottle of brut in her kitchen cabinet last Thanksgiving. My father and I cleverly stashed it in the garage and would casually slip out every now and then to take a shot of courage, or ‘get some soda from the fridge,’” she said.

Just as soon as Thanksgiving comes to an end, many Whitman students start looking forward to Christmas. When we were little kids, Christmas meant presents. For many of us now, Christmas is a welcome break from school and a chance to see our families after months away from them, but there is still a little bit of kid in all of us.

First-year Katie Foutch looks forward to opening one present on Christmas Eve every year. In her family, these presents aren’t a surprise. Everyone always gets pajamas.

“When we wake up Christmas morning, we’re already wearing a new present! Also, we look extra swanky in our Christmas pictures because we all have awe-

some new pajamas. My all-time favorite Christmas pajamas come down to a tie between the cupcake PJs I got last year and the time my mom made my teddy bear and me matching pajamas when I was seven years old,” said Foutch.

First-year Lauren Benedict has a food-related family tradition. She spends her Christmases making nisua with her family.

“It’s a Finnish sweetbread, kind of like a cinnamon roll, but better. Making nisua means spending the whole day with my mom and my family in the kitchen. And it means devouring delicious cardamom, cinnamon, coffee, sugary goodness,” she said.

The last holiday of the winter season is New Year’s Day. Traditions such as watching the ball drop and getting a kiss at midnight are common in the United States, but in Venezuela, Pereira Azuaje partakes in some different traditions.

“For [the] new year, there are so many crazy traditions. One I do myself is grabbing a suitcase and going around the block in my neighborhood. I greet people on my way. By doing that, it will give me luck in the following year, and I will travel. I’ve been doing it since I was 11 and it works!” he said.

While Americans are watching fireworks and making resolutions that they may or may not keep, in Venezuela it is popular to wear white for a fresh start or to eat 12 grapes during the countdown to midnight. The children of Venezuela can be found roller-skating around the town.

“In Venezuela we roller skate because we don’t have any ice rinks. So children go outside at 4 [a.m.] and they skate around the town squares until sunrise. And then go to Mass,” said Pereira Azuaje.

Mass is the primary service that Catholics attend every Sunday.

The great thing about the New Year is that it signifies a new beginning — a beginning to a new year and time to look forward to another holiday season.

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Photo Essay

Pio For The Holidays

Creative Foods in the Dining Hall Photos by marra Clay

Although the food from Bon Appetit has a certain flair, some firstyears are already searching for ways to put a twist on the goods in the dining halls. Using a variety of vegetables from the salad bar, cereals of every shape or color, and making Sundae Sunday every day of the week, Whitman students can find ways to make their meals their own. Whether the foods are prepared inside Prentiss or inside the dorm, there are easy ways to add some intricacy to the meal plans.

Here are a few simple ideas to help get the creative juices flowing.

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Ants on a Log Celery sticks coated with peanut butter and raisins

Photo Essay

Profile

Ice Cream Sandwich Vanilla soft serve between two cranberry oatmeal cookies

Trail Mix Cherrios, goldfish, raisins, granola, chocolate chips, pretzels

Milkshake Chocolate ice cream, milk, carmel sauce TheCircuit | 15

Reviews

Parfait Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries, granola

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Profile

Homemade Rice Krispie Rice Krispies, marshmallows, soy nut butter

Breakfast Sandwich Honey bread, peanut butter, bananas, coconut, brown sugar

What I Ate Abroad

Food can truly bring people together.

For these three Whitman students studying abroad, spending time at the table was a chance to get to know new people and new cultures. Take a trip to Austria, Thailand and India in these short essays to learn more about three foreigners’ takes on their unique cuisines.

Warm, hearty food matches Austrian culture

by DYLAN TULL

W

hen compared to the rich Middle-Eastern lamb kebab stands that crowd the streets of Vienna, the creamy Italian food that lies just over the border, or the delicate French cuisine located only a few hours west, Austrian food is somewhat bland. Layers of intricate flavor are just not the Austrian priority. I theorize that Austrian food is designed to put a hearty glow on your face, to allow you to consume endless glasses of wine and, most importantly, to keep you warm.

The traditional Austrian food that I ate mostly consisted of an endless variety of meats. One restaurant our program went to was located down a wine cellar that could have survived from the Hapsburg Empire and was fashioned in the style of a traditional Austrian wine tavern — a Heuriger. This was our first encounter with truly traditional food, and it consisted of a heaping platter of meat for the entire table to share. Lamb, different cuts of beef, chicken and dripping blood sausages were all were piled onto one plate. To complement the meat, we each had a small bowl of mashed potatoes on the side. Accompanied by a few glasses of white wine, the meal was relatively simple, but by the end of it, everyone was stuffed, red-faced and unconcerned about walking back out into the frozen streets.

Maybe it was just because I was a foreigner, but the Austrian food seemed intrinsically linked with the Austrian experience. Both seemed to complement the other a hundredfold.

While the Heuriger I already described was simply modeled after the traditional ones, a group of friends and I rode the strassenbahn, or streetcar, to a little town just outside of Vienna called Grinzing. Located among vineyards and the low hills overlooking Vienna, Grinzing is where the truly authentic Heurigers are located.

Even though it was only a 30-minute trek from the city, the town felt completely removed from city life, like a picturesque Bavarian village nestled among the Alps. When we got off the strassenbahn, there

was only one main road leading up to the hills. The road was lined on either side with beautiful houses painted in soft, natural colors. If it hadn’t been the dead of winter, flowers would have poured out from every windowsill, and green bushes would have covered the white picket fences.

When we opened the door to the first Heuriger, warmth and the mouth-watering smell of frying meat consumed us. We were only offered meat again, although this time it was Wienerschnitzel, or breaded pork cutlets. Still sizzling from the frying pan, the meat seemed to melt the snow from my hair and fire me up from the inside. If we hadn’t trudged through banks of snow to reach the meal, I don’t know if it would have been nearly as satisfying, but there was really no distinction between the white wine, the pork cutlets and the snow-covered landscape outside. The traditional food and the tiny Austrian village seemed to collide into one warming experience, and one wouldn’t have been right without the other.

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Reviews

Grilled snake part of food adventure in Thailand

by MOLLY JOHANSON

O

n homestay trips during my study abroad program in Thailand, I almost always woke up long after my host family did. In the small farming villages in northeast Thailand, everyone gets up before the sunrise. Everyone except the farangs (foreigners), that is.

This particular morning in early September, I came downstairs to the open-air first floor of the house as breakfast was being set on the table. I had told my family the night before that I was jey (vegetarian), but they had interpreted that in very broad terms. A plate of grilled things was staring back at me as I sat down at the breakfast table. I pointed to an item and asked my younger host sibling what it was.

“Nguu,” she responded.

I knew enough Thai to understand what she had said. Snake. I was being fed grilled snake for breakfast.

The summer before going to Thailand, I had tried to eat as much Thai food as possible. Truthfully, I didn’t really like it, but I wanted to get a handle on what my food

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options would be for the next five months.

All I knew was that everyone in the United States ate Pad Thai, which surely couldn’t be what is actually eaten in Thailand. The main reason that I wanted to go to Thailand for study abroad was not for the food, the weather or the tropical beaches. I primarily wanted to learn the Thai alphabet and be able to read and write Thai. My experiences of bright orange American Pad Thai only served to make me more apprehensive for the upcoming semester.

When I arrived in Thailand, everything was overwhelming, but I immediately took to the food. It was nothing like the Thai food I had eaten in Portland, which came as a relief. All of the main dishes were fried and all of the drinks were iced, and everything contained unique flavors I had never tried before, given the bland nature of my eating history — tamarind, lime, coconut, mango, papaya and fish sauce! Realizing that real Thai food was nothing like it was in the United States was probably the best gift that I could have received in my state of

culture shock. Even the Pad Thai (which is actually eaten everywhere in Thailand) was different, better and definitely not orange.

During the transitional weeks at the start of my study abroad program, we were given snack breaks constantly. I quickly started referring to Thailand not as the “land of smiles,” as it proudly proclaimed itself to be, but as the “land of kanoms (snacks).”

Homestays were the times when we were faced with the most adventurous foods because we had no choice but to eat what we were served. My vegetarian identity went out the window in order to accommodate and experience the interesting things I was served. Most often we ate the traditional foods of Isaan, the northeast part of Thailand where we were located.

However, on the morning I was faced with breakfast snake, I did not feel up to it.

But thinking back to the stories I had heard about other homestays where breakfast was a bowl of fried crickets, I summoned up my resolve and reached for a bite of snake.

Guess what? It tasted like chicken.

Spices, tea bring back fond memories of India

by SHELLY LE

I

am forever in search of the perfect, steaming and sweet cup of Indian tea — sweet, sticky and altogether not healthy for my sugar levels.

A mixture of green cardamom pods, peppercorns, fennel seeds and ginger are added to milk and water and brought to a rolling boil. Once boiled, black tea leaves are steeped in the spicemilk mixture for two minutes, and the tea is strained into individual glasses. Finishing touches include multiple spoonfuls of sugar.

I spent a semester abroad in northern India last fall, and I still crave the taste of Indian milk tea.

But in the one year since I’ve left India and have grappled with trying to preserve four months of transformative memories, I can’t seem to recall what a “perfect” cup of Indian tea tastes like to me.

My greatest wish right now would be to leave behind my responsibilities, board a plane to India and stuff myself full with Indian foods.

Parathas, pani puris, barfis, masala dosas and veg momos all haunt my food dreams on a daily basis.

Ironically, while I was abroad, I found myself constantly missing the taste of the comfort foods I had grown up with — my mother’s eggrolls, dark chocolate, salads and strangely (and maybe awfully enough) french fries. I remember three months into my semester, when I was traveling to the city of Gangtok in the Indian state of Sikkim for a month-long research study, my research partner Danielle and I stumbled upon Baker’s Café, a western-style bakery, on our first night in the city.

We were in awe at the sight of cinnamon apple strudels and almond cookies. We made a pact on that first night to try every single type of pastry and cookie offered at the

café during our month-long stay.

Looking back on my food choices in India, I regret that I didn’t choose to eat more foods that one would consider to be more traditionally Indian. I feel like I gave into my emotional need for the familiar, and now that I want Indian food, there isn’t a single Indian restaurant in Walla Walla to satisfy my cravings.

Plus, my attempts to make chana masala are subpar compared to what can be found in India.

For me, the pleasure of food comes largely from the emotions attached to particular dishes. Yes, taste is a big component of whether something can be judged as good or not, but even some of the worst made dishes can be delicious to someone based on that person’s connection to that food.

My desire to eat Indian food stems from my longing to reconnect with my semester abroad.

Veggie momos remind me of walking around the city of Darjeeling in what felt like below freezing temperatures while wearing a thin raincoat. A warm bag of veggie momos taken right off the steamer was a delicious contrast to the chill. On the other hand, parathas remind me of my first bout of diarrhea in the village of Sumik. I had eaten too many potato parathas in one sitting and subsequently had a long and painful following night. While my memories of Indian food aren’t all happy, it’s telling of what real-life experiences are — life isn’t always great, but I can generally look back fondly on particular moments in time and connect the ways I’ve changed as a result of these moments.

I haven’t had Indian food in quite some time, but I think it’s time to reconnect with my spicy, fragrant and forever-evolving memories.

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Meet the owners of THE COLVILLE STREET P TISSERIE

by SHELLY LE

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I

don’t think I’m the only one who has an obsession with the Colville Street Patisserie — ask almost anyone around campus and you’ll likely only hear raves about this beloved French pastry and coffee joint.

Sophomore year, two of my closest friends and I went to the Patisserie every Saturday morning at 9 a.m. for a warm morning cup of spicy chai and an almond croissant. While abroad, one of the things I missed most about Whitman and Walla Walla was the Patisserie’s warm, inviting atmosphere and their flaky pastries.

As my senior year continues to wind down, I already feel the nostalgia of leaving Whitman and Walla Walla behind, and the Patisserie has been an integral part of my college experience.

After nearly three years of Saturday morning jaunts to their shop, I finally sat down with the owners, Tiffany Cain and Whitman alumnus David

Christensen ‘99, to ask them a few questions.

Cain and Christensen met while they were both working for Bon Appétit at Whitman, and then they worked together at Cain’s restaurant, The Weinhard Café in Dayton, which Cain owned for 10 years. Now they are partners in business and in their personal lives.

Both Cain and Christensen have worked almost exclusively in the area for the majority of their culinary careers and have contributed to the recent changes in Walla Walla’s culinary scene. Christensen wakes up around 4 a.m. every day to begin baking, and Cain generally takes the afternoon and night shifts. Cain works the front of the house while Christensen deals with the baking duties. With less than 30 percent of sales coming from tourists, the Patisserie has built a long-standing loyal fan base.

The Pioneer: David, what made you consider going into the culinary world upon graduating from Whitman?

David Christensen: Well, Tiffany was just in the process of buying a restaurant, [the Weinhard Café], right at the time that I was graduating, so I was interested in staying around, and she had a good fit for me to get started [and] to see how that worked. I liked it, and so I kept at it.

Pioneer: Tiffany, how did you get started in the culinary world?

Tiffany Cain: I was living in the San Francisco area at the time, and I just loved the restaurant work. I loved how everything was new every day, and of course I loved food. So when the opportunity came up to buy the café, it just sort of fell into my lap. I just always loved the energy of restaurants and being around food all day long.

Pioneer: Since neither of you have attended culinary school, how did you learn how to make everything that the Patisserie produces?

DC: Just through mentorship, basically. When Whitehouse Crawford opened, I started there as a pastry as

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sistant. So I learned a lot from a really talented cook there. I worked for the previous owner of the Patisserie, and he was really open to sharing what he knew. I think I’ve just learned a lot from people who were really generous with their knowledge.

Pioneer: Why have you both stayed in Walla Walla? Why not head to a more urban culinary scene?

TC: Mortgage, mostly. But actually, I love it here. You can have a nice work-life balance here, which can be harder in the city.

DC: The cost of living is a lot higher in places like Seattle. The quality of life is maybe not exactly what we’re looking for. Here we can afford to buy a house. We can start a place like this without taking on a lot of debt or go scrambling for financial backers. It really is a beautiful town.

There are some things that some Whitman students may find limiting, and I understand that, but just as a place to live, when you can get off 22 | TheCircuit

campus, it’s great. I feel like the town has really grown up a lot in the last 20 years since I’ve been here. There’s places to eat, [and] the weather’s beautiful most of the time.

Pioneer: What are some of the things that you love most about Walla Walla?

TC: I just love the geography.

I love the hills and the little towns around Walla Walla. I love that you can drive up to Mill Creek and see the mountains close by. And I also love the food here. I like all of the people who are really devoted to doing one thing really well, like the Walla Walla Roastery or Bacon and Eggs. I like that dynamic and character.

Pioneer: Is uniqueness what you strive for?

DC: I think a lot of what makes us difference is the fact that we’re a French bakery — there aren’t a lot of those around here. But everything is handmade and we really make an effort to keep quality really high. I feel

like a lot of our customers, including Whitman students, really appreciate that. We really are kind of a “mom and pop” place and we hope that people like that.

Pioneer: Are there any struggles that come along with owning the Patisserie?

DC: The time commitment is huge. No one naturally wakes up at 4:30 in the morning, so if there was any other way to do that, I’d prefer it, but that’s just the way it goes.

TC: I think [with] small businesses, people do it because they really enjoy it. It’s hard and sometimes you have to pay your employees before you pay yourself. It’s really a devotion to it.

Pioneer: What are some things that you love to eat here? Maybe not something you could eat every day, but that you really enjoy?

TC: I really do love it all here. But if I could narrow it down, I would say I love the cannelé and the danishes —

those are the ones that really call to me every day. I love our coffee, too.

DC: I really love the lemon tart. If I’m going to take dessert somewhere, I always want to take the lemon tart or a lemon sorbet. And the cannelé — the cannelé or an affogato are my afternoon snack once in a while.

Pioneer: Looking at your case right now, there are a number of different flavor combinations that I wouldn’t think go together. How do you envision flavor combinations and make them successful?

DC: Part of it is just trying to looking around for inspiration wherever you can. So ... reading a pastry magazine every once in a while, or often we just buy large cases of some produce and we have to figure out what to do with them all. We just bought a bunch of cases of apricots, and what am I going to do with them all? Maybe apricot chamomile comes to mind, because it’s a sweet flavor and a sour flavor.

TC: He really is great at pairing things. A lot of people, if they had four boxes of apricots, they’d just make apricot ... something, you know? His sense of savory and sweet is unusual, and he makes it work almost every time.

Pioneer: So does the Patisserie just buy a bunch of something in bulk and then try to think of something to make with them? Or do you go into buying something with a vision already in mind?

DC: Both ways, definitely.

We bought a case of lemons and a case of sweet potatoes earlier.

And the sweet potatoes will all be sweet potato pie, and the lemons, we’ll just try to use up.

So we’ll make lemon curd, lemon sorbet.

TC: And sometimes, it’s just that a farmer has something totally irresistible and we have to buy it all.

Sometimes you just impulse buy and then you’re just like, “Well, what do I do with these?” So that’s always fun to try and figure that out.

Pioneer: What is the craziest impulse buy that’s you’ve ever had?

DC: We bought these little green plums, and we spent hours pitting them all, and they were this beautiful color, but when you baked them, they turned brown and they weren’t beautiful anymore.

Pioneer: So what did you end up doing with them?

DC: I think I traded them with Whitehouse Crawford for a martini.

Pioneer: Is there a flavor that you would never try to work with in your shop?

DC: I probably will never try a durian. We’ve made a couple of things that weren’t well received. We made a tomato sorbet one time and it was just...

TC: Yeah, we once made a carrotginger sorbet that just looked beautiful, but it was too gingery and strong.

DC: It seems to be more of the vegetable-based things. There are a couple of things like that where you just have to realize that the people have spoken.

Pioneer: What are some of your favorite memories at the Patisserie?

TC: We had a wedding earlier this year. An impromptu wedding, so that was pretty cool.

DC: They were supposed to get married the day before, but they had gotten sick. They said they both really liked this place so they wanted to

get married here. The bride changed in the bathroom, had the cake and ran down the street to Holly’s Flowers to get some flowers.

Pioneer: Any other favorite memories?

DC: Honestly, I love popping my head out the kitchen door and seeing people enjoy themselves. I don’t really have a specific memory of a favorite moment. When it’s really vibrant in the mornings and there are a bunch of people talking to each other, it’s great.

TC: I also really love it when people bring their babies to the shop and one of their first words is “gelato.” One little girl came in and yelled out bowl, which was her first word. Her mom had been serving her gelato by spoon and finally she could say the word bowl ... That’s great!

Pioneer: Do you have any advice for students graduating from a liberal arts school, like Whitman, that want to enter the culinary world?

DC: I was lucky enough to graduate and get a couple of good jobs in different places. I would suggest that if you’re really passionate about it, I would do that. On the other hand, I’m not going to hire someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience.

We’ll definitely give someone a shot if they’ve shown they’re really interested in cooking. But if it’s possible to go get an internship somewhere, I’d say try that before going to culinary school. Culinary school is great for some people, but it’s not for everyone.

I would just say cook and bake as often as you can at home. Build your basic knowledge and have something to show when showing your cover letter.

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Dining Halls Through the Ages

By Serena Runyan

S

eventy years ago, 55 cents could buy you a dinner at Whitman’s dining halls. Students from the ‘60s are pictured in Lyman Hall eating in suits, and diners used to be waited on. Despite these changes, dining halls have always served as a warm environment for the Whitman community to come together.

Looking at Whitman’s dining halls in the past several decades reveals both how much times have changed and how little the difference between dining halls in 1943 and 2013 really is.

Dining halls have always been a place for the Whitman community to gather and foster a campus community.

Students today enjoy the allyou-can eat style in the dining halls, but in 1947, when Coach Strong frequented the dining halls, people were served a limited portion. But this doesn’t mean Coach Strong didn’t try to find a way to get more food.

In 1947 Mrs. F. Borgens, a member of the dining hall staff, wrote a letter to President Anderson concerning Coach Strong who was “causing an ill feeling with my waiters.” Coach Strong had frequently cheated the dining hall of extra milk and desserts by making students give theirs to him or giving waiters grief for not giving him an extra steak. He was also charging his meals to President Anderson.

“All of my waiters are so resentful at his attitude in the Dining

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Room that they hate to wait on that table when he is there,” said Borgens in her letter. “He eats as much as three boys so I think he is eating there because his wife can’t afford to feed him.”

Though still a ways in the past, dining halls in the 1960s look more similar to our dining halls today than they did in the ‘40s, as waiters turned into people like Jane Mills ‘63 who served a line of students holding lunch trays.

“Kids filed in and walked down a buffet line with a plastic empty tray, we faced them and asked them which of the hot entrees they would like, and they could ask for a heaping serving if they wanted or skip the vegetables,” said Mills, who worked in the dining halls all of her four years at Whitman.

“We had a self-serve salad bar — I remember kids piling on the croutons and ranch dressing, [and] self-serve soda.”

Mills said that the still-beloved weekend brunch was always especially packed.

In her time working in the dining halls, Mills served food from the casserole pans and eventually moved up to a higher-ranked dishwasher position. Although she had to be at work at 6:15 a.m. for breakfast shifts, Mills said she enjoyed the break from her regular Whitman life.

“I remember I got to really look forward to a few moments each day with non-Whitties,” said Mills. “The professional food-service folks were older and didn’t ask whether you had

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finished your paper that was due that day ... Also, as a freshman I remember I liked working alongside upperclassmen. I thought they were cool cats.”

Pat Smith ‘61 worked in Lyman Dining Hall and the Phi Delt kitchen as a student. The relationships he built in the Phi Delt kitchen proved significant for Smith. Smith and his three coworkers have done 27 (soon to be 28) “adventure trips” together, everywhere from Chile to Antarctica. Unsurprisingly, then, Smith said he most appreciated the community Whitman’s dining halls created.

“Lyman Dining Hall was always busy and friendly. By the end of the semester everyone knew each other,” said Smith. “The camaraderie of living with others of a diverse background was truly rewarding and life changing.”

Not everything was good about Whitman’s dining halls in the ‘60s, however. While dining halls fostered camaraderie and a warm place to visit with friends, students expressed dis-

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satisfaction with the quality of food. “[The] food was universally mediocre/institutional,” said Packard Phillips ‘61.

Mills agreed that the food could have stood some changes.

“I hope they serve healthier food!” said Mills. “Iceberg lettuce in the salad bars, and meat and cheesy casseroles every dinner.”

Phillips preferred food from fraternity kitchens to that of the dining halls.

“Meals at fraternity were much better, less institutional [and] more family — we hired the cooks so they were responsive to wants and needs,” said Phillips.

But while Phillips was still a first-year, he and his classmates found ways to improve their dining hall experience. On one occasion, all first-year men refused to eat at the dining hall (at that time Lyman). “[The] food improved!” said Phillips.

By 1969 students could expect

a fairly varied menu every day. On Sunday, Dec. 14, for example, students could choose from fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, frozen peas, jellied fruit salad and chocolate sundaes.

Though the food might have improved since Phillips’ time, problems persisted. In 1981 Whitman published a collection of reports on the quality of Whitman’s dining halls, which exposed a disconcerting lack of adherence to state health codes and kitchens conditions.

“Most shelves and counters are wooden,” says one report. “Wood is not acceptable by the health department and should be replaced.”

Working conditions were also in need of improvement.

“Lack of air conditioning, not only in the cook’s area but the entire kitchen, increases problems with insects,” continues the report.

Another report stated that “A preponderance of the kitchen equipment is obsolete, unsanitary and out of code.”

Regardless, Lynne Cohee ‘83 enjoyed her dining hall experience. She lived in Jewett Hall and Prentiss Hall for most of her time at Whitman, and said people mostly ate where they lived.

Unlike today, Jewett was open all week, so residents of Jewett and Lyman never had to make the trek to Prentiss on the weekends. This meant everyone in the dining halls was a regular.

“We all knew each other,” said Cohee.

And fewer Whitman students overall made for a warm dining hall atmosphere.

“The school was a little smaller then.

I think we were at about 1,100 students when I was at Whitman,” said Cohee.

Like today, the dining halls provided a sense of home within the dorms.

“It was very busy and friendly. One of my favorite Jewett Dining Hall memories was that they did a midnight pancake breakfast during finals,” said Cohee.

From coaches to professors to students, meals have always brought the campus together in ways unlike classrooms do. Despite the evolution Whitman’s dining halls have gone through, they have always been a center for the development of Whitman’s community.

It’s no secret that the average Whitman student has high expectations for a sandwich. In a small town amidst rolling wheat fields and extremely fertile ground, the college’s location gives students easy access to fresh and local breads, arguably the sandwich’s most crucial ingredient. The type of bread can make or break a sandwich. Not only does it serve as a backbone for the fillings; the bread is the first thing you sink your teeth into.

My personal favorite sandwiches come from the Walla Walla Bread Co., a local eatery known for making and distributing breads all over town, from pretzels rolls at Prentiss Dining Hall to dinner loaves at the Marcus Whitman Hotel.

But how exactly is this bread made? And what’s the story of how the Walla Walla Bread Co. toasted ciabatta turkey bacon cheddar club sandwich came to be? After further investigation, I discovered that the single most important part of a sandwich’s life begins with a single grain.

FROM WHEAT TO BREAD Photos by Catie Bergman

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Br i 30 | TheCircuit

Brew ing cul ture

by SARAH CORNETT

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W

hitman College students are known for having creative and alternative interests. It is no surprise, then, that many have embraced a hobby that combines creativity with sustainable value: brewing beverages.

In the past few years, the popularity of brewing beer, wine, kombucha or other beverages from their places of residence, either on or off campus, has grown dramatically. In a town known for quality wine, Walla Walla offers resources and opportunities for these students to begin brewing.

Senior Josh Melander began making his own apple wine after learning the tricks of the trade from a friend who graduated a few years ago.

“A senior when I was a freshman would make a five-gallon batch and give it out for fun.

He gave me the tools to do it, and I started after he left,” he said.

For Melander’s “go-to” recipe, he begins by buying a few gallons of apple juice, two pounds of sugar and yeast to throw together a five-gallon batch. Melander likes to let the contents sit for five to six months before he opens the final product. The recipe he uses creates a product called apfelwein, a German hard cider known for its dry taste. A little maintenance is required, but it’s nothing serious.

“You get a cake of yeast and sugar on the bottom, and every month or so I take it off,” he said. “But for the most part, you just let it sit.”

Melander has found his recipe to be a cost-efficient way to make a good product with little time consumption. After a batch is ready, he shares it with friends in what is a low-cost way to enjoy home brew.

“It’s the fun of brewing your own beverage in a low cost and easy way,” he said.

While apple wine is relatively simple, home-brewers looking to make beer have a more difficult task. Senior Will Seymour has been brewing since his last year of high school. Though he primarily brews beer, he has experimented with a variety of beverages and other fermentation products.

“I started experimenting with ci-

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der when I was 18. Last year I made mead. Both are pretty simple,” he said.

Seymour didn’t brew during his first year in Jewett Hall but started a small operation while living in Beta Theta Pi his sophomore year. This year, Seymour is embracing beerbrewing full time. Like Melander, he makes five-gallon batches. However, his process is more time-consuming. So far, he’s been working with partial grain brewing, a process simpler than full grain. He first cooks the grain he plans to use in the oven.

He takes advantage of Walla Walla’s brewing offerings to get his roasts.

“There are a lot of vineyard supply stores in town,” he said. “I buy the roasts that I want there, and then cook those in the oven.”

After this process, he adds flavor to the extract. He brews in his five-gallon brew pot, and the process of preparing the grain and the hops takes around three hours. After this period, he pitches the yeast.

“It ferments for about two to three weeks. I use an air lock to make sure the seal is good,” he said.

From there, he either bottles it or adds more hops. The process requires resources and equipment more extensive than simple home brew like Melander’s. During the process, Seymour uses the oven and stove in his apartment to heat and cook the raw materials properly. Another difficulty is the danger of breaking the seal.

“Home brewing naturally creates a

lot of difficulty because you don’t want the product exposed to air,” he said.

This difficulty is perhaps why beer brewing is less common at Whitman. Temperature control in brewing is extremely important, and it’s difficult to do that with a simple home-system.

Seymour is

interested in turning brewing into more than just a hobby. He currently works at Seven Hills Winery downtown and is actively considering a

masters program in brewing at the University of California at Davis, which would allow him to work in a brewery or potentially start his own.

He’s starting to create his own recipes after years of crafting a strong knowledge of how to brew beer.

For now, he is content to enjoy his product with friends.

“I’ve always liked to share it with friends without selling any,” he said.

A third type of brewed beverage, and one that has become ever popular at Whitman, is kombucha. Like Seymour, sophomore Lucie Pepper began experimenting with fermented beverages during high school. Her hobby started as the result of family enthusiasm over the drink and a desire to make it herself.

“My mom had been drinking kombucha for several years before it became a big thing,” she said.

“It was kind of a joke in our house that she would save so much money if I started brewing it. It started as a fun project with my friend.”

Though she now says brewing kombucha is a simple process, she experienced her fair share of difficulties in the beginning.

After getting a starter kit with a scoby, a colony of bacteria and yeast that allows for the fermentation, she had struggles with making the process begin. Now it’s a humorous reminder of

how far she’scome in the brewing process.

“At first it was an epic disaster. We ended up killing the scoby and it didn’t ferment,” she said. “So then we got another starter kit, and I think I still have that original scoby.”

Like Melander’s apple wine, the process of brewing kombucha is relatively simple and requires little maintenance. There is room for creativity and an opportunity to create flavors, similar to Seymour’s brewing process.

“You need caffeinated tea and sugar. You basically just boil the tea for a while and put the sugar in so it dissolves and whatever other flavor you want,” she said.

Pepper typically takes it off the stove while it’s still hot to add fruit for flavoring. She then strains the liquid and adds the scoby, setting it in a cool and dark place to ferment for however long she wants.

“I like it to be tangy, so I let it sit for three or four weeks.

A lot of people prefer to let it sit for a couple weeks for a less acidic flavor,” she said.

Though she lived in Jewett last year, she didn’t let this stop her from brewing. After boiling the tea, she would put the mixture in glass jugs, put fabric and rubber bands on top to close it off, and leave the jugs under her desk.

Pepper is not the first Whitman student to experiment with kombucha on campus. Dave McGaughey ’13 started a professional kombucha business in Walla Walla last year after being inspired by tasting the drink a few years ago. Many, like Pepper, are shaping up to be Whitman’s next generation of kombucha producers.

For these students, brewing has become a fun and cost-effective hobby to enjoy sustainably-made beverages. Though the resources and equipment required for their various beverages are different, each has enjoyed a way to create a product they can use and share with friends.

“Brewing has seemed to really take off at Whitman,” said Seymour. “Its popularity seems to grow every year.”

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Off campus

Junior Evelyn Levine shares her Food Network

by EVEYLN LEVINE

W

hen I was in middle school, I wanted to be a chef. I watched The Food Network almost exclusively and started a fund to buy a rice cooker. I read Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” and despised Sandra Lee and her “Semi-Homemade Cooking” show — add one part middle-aged

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skinny blonde woman with a packet of Betty Crocker and a multi-shot cocktail. One year my Christmas list for grandma included a cheese slicer. The following year, I wanted an onyx black, flame-decorated Kitchen Aide stand-mixer, just like the mixer that Food Network chef Alton Brown uses on his show, “Good Eats.”

Alton Brown was my Food Network idol, and I watched his show with a level of concentration I struggled to achieve anywhere else, especially in class or while doing homework. What I like about Alton Brown and “Good Eats” is that they explain food and cooking beyond recipes. Alton uses an indispensable cast of big foam props,

cooking adventures

inspiration and gives tips about cooking on your own bouncing balls, balloons, pool noodles, stuffed animals and a giant chalkboard in order to explain the science of cooking down to the molecules.

Each episode also contains a story. The show has a cast of characters including a James Bond-style “Q” parody named “W”; Alton’s arch-nemesis, “the mad French chef”; Alton’s own evil twin, “B.A. Brown”; Alton’s up-tight older sister, Marsha, and her son, a young Alton “mini-me” named Elton who looks like Jonathan Lipnicki from “The Little Vampire.”

In each episode, Alton has one dish to prepare. He explains the ingredients, the science of the cooking, shows a variation on the recipe and then teaches viewers how to serve and store the dish. All of this is paired with a kooky storyline. The show is goofy, there are weird sound effects and Alton pops out bug-eyed from behind things a lot. The show is everything that should be expected from a host who also plays a parody Colonel Sanders character named “Colonel Bob Boatwright.” The show is fantastic and informative, and it has the best recipes.

The recipes are easy enough for a commoner like myself to duplicate.

One of my two favorite Alton Brown recipes is called the “Basic Waffle,” but it is utterly non-basic in deliciousness.

This recipe comes from the waffle episode, “The Waffle Truth,” which naturally had a storyline involving testifying at court for some ridiculous waffle-related reason. In the show, Alton makes a basic waffle and a chocolate waffle. He also teaches viewers how to store the waffles in the freezer so that they can have one of their own waffles for breakfast instead of eating an Eggo.

In my own off-campus cooking, I try to emulate Alton — I treat cooking as an adventure. I may not have an eviltwin or arch-nemesis (although I do have a southern alter-ego), but I get ex-

cited about the whole process of going from store to pan or oven to stomach, and then to fridge or freezer. When I cook a meal, I try to pretend like I’m in an episode of “Good Eats” and choose one main thing, like a meat, tofu, curry or pasta dish, and then dress it healthfully with simple sides. Some side ideas include a salad with balsamic, cooked greens in garlic, quinoa, rice or potatoes. This is helpful not only because I can focus most of my energy on the main dish, but also because I can use my cooking time efficiently.

My housemate Alex takes a cooking approach similar to that of many off-campus chefs I know. Twice a week, he makes one big main dish, like lasagna, casserole, chicken and veggies or enchiladas. Then he works his way through it during the week.

It is an economic and time-effective method for those who don’t mind eating the same thing for days on end. Normally I like mixing things up more. That said, it often takes me an hour or more to make dinner from start to finish, and of course sometimes I just don’t have time.

When I don’t have an hour, half an hour or even 20 minutes to make dinner, I rely on microwaveable or stovetop ready things around my kitchen and in my fridge. I like to store extra canned goods and dry goods in the event that I get sick, have no time at all or run out of produce. I usually have a few cans of black beans, garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, vegetarian chili and a couple canned soups. I also choose to buy alternative milks like almond, soy or rice because they are cheaper than cow’s milk, and they keep longer. With freshness in mind, I store pasta, rice, quinoa, sugar and flour in mason jars and other clear and air-tight containers.

When I know in advance that the week will be hectic, I cook extra pas-

ta or quinoa ahead of time. Normally I choose quinoa over rice because it is nutritious and it keeps better in the fridge without coagulating into one unpleasant, dry mass. Day-old rice is good for fried rice — throw an egg, leftover chicken and some chopped veggies in the pan with high-heat cooking oil like canola or peanut. However, day-old quinoa is good for many other things, including quinoa “fried rice.”

Sometimes I turn around and there are only eggs, lots of condiments, four pieces of kale, potatoes and onions in my kitchen. I can’t always avoid the sudden realization that there is nothing in my fridge. In addition to keeping cans of chili and soup, a good way to avoid eating endless eggs and onions and potatoes (which make a great frittata) is to put up a grocery list on the fridge and write things down as they are running out.

Let me repeat: Write the things down before they are completely gone. If I know what I am running out of, I have a really nice safety net until I can organize a trip to get more groceries.

My advice to other Whitties who cook is to be adventurous. When cooking something for the first time, read multiple recipes before you start and then choose the best one. Also, know what ingredients are procurable here in Walla Walla, and be sure to check your kitchen cupboards twice before breaking any eggs or turning on any appliances. I highly suggest Alton Brown’s recipes, but he doesn’t make everything. Overall, I’ve found the greatest success eating healthfully and creatively off campus by keeping my kitchen stocked with simple ingredients, planning dinner in advance and having a guest or a housemate to help out and make the meal more fun. I also always wash dishes the same day I dirty them, but that is a personal preference.

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Drinks that go with your major

Psychology: Gin and Tonic Unofficial research has shown that drinking this classic drink can cause utter joy in the human hippocampus.

Studio Art: Cosmopolitan Let the bright color of this drink inspire your future masterpiece.

Or, you know, you could just Instagram it.

After a rough day in classes, it's nice to sit down with a cold drink. After careful analysis, we have found these six majors' next drink of choice.

by Emma Dahl and Aleida Fernandez

Geology: Beer To quote a professor, “Here’s a beer bottle for scale.” You’re essentially camping while doing field work. You might as well have a beer or two.

2 oz gin 5 oz tonic water 1 lime wedge Pour the gin and the tonic water into a mason jar with ice cubes. Stir well. Think about what your choice in drink says about you.

English: Tom Collins To cure writer’s block, try a drink that sounds like a character in an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

1.25 oz vodka of your choosing 0.25 oz triple sec 1 oz cranberry juice In a shaker with ice, add vodka, triple sec and cranberry juice. Shake and strain into a martini glass.

Music: Champagne

6-pack of Alaska Amber Ale Be sure to remember your Swiss Army Knife so you can get the bottles open.

Toast to the end of form and analysis, senior recitals and aural skills with a goblet of $5 bubbly. You won’t be needing them anytime soon, anyway.

Astronomy:

Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey Burnt out on studying massive fireballs in space? Take a shot of one instead.

2 oz gin 1 oz lemon juice 1 tsp superfine sugar 3 oz club soda 1 maraschino cherry or sliced strawberry 1 slice orange Two oz Fireball Whiskey Fill a whimsical shot glass of your choice with whiskey, then plug your nose and go for it. Be sure to savor the aftertaste.

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In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the gin, lemon juice and sugar. Shake well. Strain into a tall glass. Add the club soda. Stir and garnish with the cherry or strawberry and the orange slice.

One bottle of nicely cheap champagne Pour champagne into a fancy goblet. Do not attempt to have a jam session.

“B

oil ’em, mash ’em, stick ’em in a stew.”

One of the most quoted lines from the beloved “Lord of the Rings” trilogy is Samwise Gamgee raving about the many uses of potatoes. Sam and Frodo had been on the trail for months, and it’s no wonder they began lusting after some of their delicacies from home. Just as Sam dreams of ‘taters, I find that it’s not uncommon for people to start talking of favorite foods they miss a few days into a backpacking trip. They get hungry and frequently prioritize the ease and efficiency of their meals over taste. I’m here to give you my two cents on backcountry cuisine, which varies a bit from a hobbit’s.

While you may just want a good recipe or two, I find that half of the joy of backcountry cooking is experimenting, being creative and making the most out of what you have; I’d hate to take that away from you with step-by-step directions and a recipe list. However, here are some of my favorite suggestions for you to keep in mind that I expect to both please your taste buds and your wallets: Mix your own GORP — Trail mix, a.k.a.

GORP (Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts), is the perfect go-to snack. But don’t just settle for the pre-made mixes or you’ll end up with a bounty of GORP dregs a few days in once you’ve picked all the peanut M & M’s out and left the raisins behind. Go to a bulk section and pick out exactly what you want.

Spice Kit — Especially if you frequently find yourself in the backcountry, you will want to build a spice kit. Fill some small containers with salt, pepper, curry powder or any spice you’re fond of, and you’ll have flavor-packed meals on all your future trips.

Fry-bake — A fry-bake is the perfect universal cookware item. Pick one of these up in the OP, and you’ll be able do everything from baking cakes to cooking stir-fries and can do away with all your other pots and pans.

Nalgene sauce — Pasta is an obvious go-to meal in the backcountry; it’s light to pack, not fragile and universally loved.

What you might not have thought of is mak-

ing your own sauce and bringing it in a Nalgene. Two of my favorite backcountry meals are pesto or a Thai peanut sauce over pasta.

Bread — Despite its bulkiness, bread has many key uses. First, sandwiches for lunch is most often the best option. A classic PB&J or hummus, veggies and meat are two easy options for a quick, portable, protein-filled lunch.

Salami — A roll of salami is the tastiest option for something that is filling, caloriedense and easy to pack. It makes an easy snack and makes a sandwich or dinner hardier.

Hot drinks — Practically a necessity on any backpacking trip, hot drinks can make it considerably more enjoyable to stay up talking on a cold, dark evening.

Hot cocoa around the campfire sounds like a dream come true (and it often is), but here’s why I go for tea instead: It’s easier to clean, and you don’t do hot chocolate the injustice of having it without milk.

With my go-to items for backcountry cooking, you’ll find the options are limitless and the obstacles of backcountry cooking not as limiting as they seem. As those of you who have backpacked know, everything tastes better in the wild.

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What excessive holiday dish are you?

QUIZ

By Andy Monserud

A

merican tradition is loaded with food. All of our holidays, especially in the latter half of the year, mandate feasts heavy on meat, potatoes and sugars. Which narcolepsy-inducing family meal are you?

1. When you go to lunch in the dining hall, you…

A. Make a beeline for the sandwich line. Deli meat errday!

B. Lament that the brunch bar is out of hash browns again. At dinner.

C. Soft-serve machine. Several times over.

D. Salad bar! You’re a vegetarian!

2. You spend the most time in…

A. Maxey Hall. Got to get your history fix.

B. Olin Hall. It’s got something for everyone!

C. Hall of Music. You love the comforting sounds of everybody else practicing.

D. Harper Joy. Theater is just your place, you know?

3. Your room looks…

A. Decent. And what business is it of mine?

B. Good enough for you.

C. Spotless. And it smells like pumpkin spice!

D. Can’t tell through layers and layers of posters, buttons and stickers.

4. Your biggest online time waster is…

A. Reddit. You like the hive-mind sense of community.

B. You don’t waste time, your online pursuits are just as legitimate.

C. Buzzfeed. You really don’t need to see more lists of funny cat gifs, but they’re SOO KYOOT!!

D. Tumblr, because it’s important.

5. Your ideal party is…

A. A couple of beers at whatever frat’s hopping that night.

B. At home with a couple of friends and a “Game of Thrones” binge.

C. Rum and Coke, a board game and anyone you can round up while stumbling through the hallways.

D. A gardening party. Bring your hoes!

6. Your favorite TV show or movie is…

A. “Parks and Recreation.” Ron Swanson is God! B. Eh, whatever people are talking about is fine. You mostly watch TV as a conversation topic anyway.

C. Soap operas are the greatest!

D. You’ve watched “Food, Inc.” 53 times in the last three years.

credits

Mostly A’s: You are the meat dish. Ham or turkey, it doesn’t really matter. You’re the centerpiece — the one whose carving represents seniority and power, the one everybody gets served first. You’re the consensus and happy that way. Long live the status quo!

Mostly B’s: You’re mashed potatoes. While meat overshadows you a bit, your starchy mush provides most of the nutrition for a holiday meal, as alarming as that may sound. Delicious but not flashy, you’re content to sit as a humble but appreciated sidekick to the more flamboyant meat.

Mostly C’s: You’re pie. Sweet, flavorful and always devoured despite bulging post-meal guts, you’re the pleasant finisher of the meal. The temptation of kids, you’re beloved by everybody, but everybody likes you differently.

Mostly D’s: You are salad. Even though we all know that you’re probably the best thing for us at the table, we’re still reluctant to approach you in favor of more appetizing options. This will undoubtedly come back to bite us in the long run, but at Thanksgiving dinner, even the most sympathetic relatives will likely only give you a cursory nibble before eating something they actually enjoy.

Front and back cover: Photo by Allie Felt Pg. 2: Photo of Shelly Le by Halley McCormick Pg. 3: Photo of pancakes by Tanner Bowersox, picture of fruit salad and cuccidati by Marlena Sloss, photo of Patisserie desserts by Marra Clay, photo of Walla Walla Bread Co. sandwhich by Catie Bergman, photo of beer bottles by Catie Bergman, photo of parfait by Marra Clay Pg. 6: Illustration by MaryAnne Bowen Pg. 7-9: Photos by Tanner Bowersox Pg. 10: Photos by Marlena Sloss Pg. 12: Illustration by Lya Hernandez

Pg. 17: Photo contributed by Chris Honeycutt Pg. 18: Photos contributed by Molly Johanson Pg. 19: Photo by Catie Bergman Pg. 20-22: Photos by Marra Clay Pg. 24-26: Photos contributed by the Whitman College Archives Pg. 31: Photo from Wikimedia Commons Pg. 32-33: Illustration by Sophie Cooper-Ellis Pg. 34-35: Photos by Marlena Sloss Pg. 36: Photos by Chaoyu Li Pg. 37: Illustration by Luke Hampton Pg. 38: Comic by Asa Mease

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Crossword & Horoscope

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