Join UVic’s cooking sessions for students missing their favourite meals from home
Photo courtesy of University of Victoria.
Are you sick of eating cafeteria-style hunks of meat and vegetables on a plastic tray? Escape the never-ending culinary horrors and attend a Belonging Dinner at UVic. Every two weeks, until Nov. 19, the Multifaith Centre and Student Wellness Centre are collaborating to offer monthly cooking tutorials from guest chefs, and they’re completely free to attend. This program, which launched in 2023, is seriously a hidden gem, and might soon rival the popularity of Multifaith events like yoga and Pet Café.
The dinner program ran on Sept. 24 for the first time last year, and appears to have garnered a cult following, as registration is now required to make sure there is enough space and food for everyone. Last year, students learned how to cook kimchi, miso soup, bibimbap, cabbage rolls, sadza, and dal and kadhai paneer, and they ended the semester with a giant potluck.
At Belonging Dinners, each guest chef discusses the historical and cultural importance of the food they’re cooking as they teach students how to make it. There is a strong emphasis on the connection between culture and food, and according to the Student Wellness Centre, students are “invited to practice mindfulness in cooking and eating based on a holistic approach that combines the body, mind, and heart”. Chefs are encouraged to share stories and their personal connections to the dish, and then students gather around a large communal table set for a feast to chat and eat the food they helped cook.
Some students come to Belonging Dinners to share their own iterations of cultural dishes and the family and stories surrounding them, and others simply come with open minds to learn about culture and cooking. The space is sacred for those who are feeling homesick, or are looking for community on campus, and everyone is welcome to join. There is no required experience level or fee, but it’s important to sign up in advance to make sure your spot is reserved.
The next dinner will take place from 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 22 at the Student Wellness Centre, where students can learn to make fried rice. Meeting locations alternate between the collaborative kitchen in the Student Wellness Centre and the community kitchen in the Wallace Residence. If you plan to attend, make sure to double check which building your workshop will be in.
Belonging Dinners, while being offered by the Multifaith Centre, are hosted by Min-Goo Kang, a spiritual care provider with Campus United UVic — an inclusive Christian ministry which also helps to run other programs at UVic like “Writing Home” poetry workshops and “Creating Space” art studios. The Campus United Instagram page is truly a movie-trailer-look into the welcoming environment that Belonging Dinners offer, and features an entire Instagram highlight of videos and photos of students cooking and eating together with expert chefs guiding them.
If you’re looking for rich culture and food with actual spices, or at the very least some low-stakes human connection and a free dinner, sign up now for Belonging Dinners before they fill up. There’s only three dinners left this semester and the program ends in mid-November, so there’s no better time than the present to learn how to make rich cultural dishes for free.
