A home-cooked meal from mom is just as good as being back home and Algonquin College Food Services is trying to give students the next best thing.
The college is working on a taste of home cookbook, which will be made from recipes by students on residence and featured at the 35th Street Market Cafe.
“For us it’s all about family and community and it’s a good way to engage students by letting them bring a little piece of home to Algonquin,” said ancillary services marketing manager Alanna McDonell.
By the end of April, food services plan to release a cookbook based on the recipes submitted.
“We want as many recipes as possible; it would be ideal to have every student on res submit one, and continue doing this every year,” said assistant marketing manager, Lisa Barker.
Once the students get picked, they will get one-on-one time with the college’s executive chef Russell Weir to discuss the recipe and give the chef tips on how to make it taste like their family made it. A new recipe will be selected every second Wednesday all semester.
“It will be interesting to see how he takes a recipe geared for a few people and turn it into a recipe for 200 people,” said McDonell.
After hearing about a similar idea from the University of Massachusetts, where the school was getting parents to submit homemade recipes for a cookbook, Algonquin decided to try it their own way.
“We liked the concept, but we wanted to involve our students more so we gave it an Algonquin spin,” said McDonell.
The Taste of Home Cookbook is still just beginning, but the food service has high hopes for what could be a new yearly event at Algonquin.