INTERNATIONAL FLAIR: BPATIST CENTER OFFERS INTERNATIONALS A PLACE TO EXPRESS AND SHARE CULTURES THROUGH FOOD

With nimble fingers, Shiho Kawamura pressed the ends of a paper-thin, dark green seaweed wrapper together and removed a square bamboo mat used to form the roll before anyone gathered around the table realized she had created a rainbow of culinary delight.

The roasted seaweed wrapper had been spread with layers of white Japanese rice, cucumber, avocado, cooked egg and flaked tuna before Kawamura rolled the mixture together to form sushi.

Just as quickly as she filled her own rolled sushi, Kawamura immediately began helping others layer their ingredients. She then sliced the rolls and placed them on a platter for serving.

Toshi Ohta said sushi is hard to roll and rather messy, so he let Kawamura and about eight other Japanese students lead a cooking school recently for Culture Junction, a program sponsored by the Baptist Student Center at Southeast Missouri State University. The menu included rolled sushi, korokke, similar to a potato pancake, and Kenchin-juri, a soup made with tofu and pork.

While these students didn't have the expertise of Julia Child or Emeril Lagasse in the kitchen, the Culture Junction group is working its way toward a palatable trip around the globe.

So far this semester they've eaten Korean barbecue and spicy Chinese cabbage and three traditional Japanese foods. Next on the schedule are some American favorites -- cheesecake and pumpkin and apple pies.

Although Culture Junction doesn't serve up feasts at every meeting, food is often a topic of conversation, said Denise Lincoln, program director. The students talk about how foods in America differ from the foods in their country and about food tasting. Culture Junction has been meeting for 11 years.

Developing culinary skills

All those conversations about food eventually led to a food and culture night where all the international students prepared foods from their countries and then shared stories about life back home. That burden got to be too much for the students involved, so the group changed its format.

"If other people like to eat it and we always cook it, they won't know how to cook it themselves," said Yasushi Otaka.

Cooking schools developed in the last two years and have been a good way for the students to share lessons about culture and samples of food, Lincoln said. "Not only can you add that to your tastes but also to your culinary skills."

Copies of the recipes are provided during each cooking school.

The group has included as many as 50 students but usually averages about 20 for weekly gatherings. Twenty-five gathered recently for Japanese cooking school.

Yasushi Otaka needed to learn how to speak better English when he first attended a Culture Junction meeting, but he continued coming because he liked meeting other international students. Students primarily from Japan and Asia attend, but a few European students have joined the group.

Finding ingredients

Otaka helped oversee some of the food preparations at the cooking school, but he didn't do much of the grocery shopping.

Most of the items needed for the foods are available at supermarkets. Specialty items can be found at Asian markets. All the foods were chosen because they are foods that nearly every Japanese family would serve at home, said Aiko Shimizu.

"They are things that are very popular so everyone would know them," she said.

The students talked little about religion and plenty about food and culture during the Japanese cooking school.

Korean students said that in their country, sushi could include sausages or meats and would be served with a sesame sauce instead of soy sauce. In Japan, it only includes any variety of vegetables, Japanese rice and fish. It is typically served with soy sauce.

It's little things that make the difference, and students who come for Culture Junction meetings often learn more about their similarities than their differences, Lincoln said.

It always takes some education to bring the groups together. "They find out they all have a lot in common, and we are much more interconnected than we would ever guess," she said.

There is a barrier for some because the group meets at the Baptist center, but in some instances the meeting location helps spark conversations about Christianity and religion. What starts as an opportunity to meet cultures can also be an opportunity to learn Christian doctrine.

"When we are together as a group, they can see the difference in the lifestyle of the Christians," Lincoln said.