According to the BYU-Hawaii’s official website, 54 percent of the student population are international. Students share their favorite foods and why these foods deserve to be known as the best food in the world.
For Madeline Lee, a sophomore from Kentucky majoring in biology, food is a way for people to spend quality time with each other. Lee said her favorite food is ice cream, specifically the desert from a shop called Graters. “It was the perfect hang-out spot with all her friends during middle school.”
However, for Ray Noema, a freshman from Tonga a double major in accounting and information systems said no matter what food you like, she thinks any kind of seafood is the best. She said, “I don’t know if it’s just because I grew up in Tonga, but I feel like there’s no food that can taste as good as any seafood. There’s so many ways you can cook it.”
Although Otgon Badrakh, a junior from Mongolia, majoring in accounting likes homemade dishes. She said, “homemade bread and vegetable soup, made with fresh ingredients is the best.”
Badrakh said she always has put a lot of value in having a nutritious diet. Her main inspiration for living this lifestyle is her sister and said they both share the attitude of anything homemade always taste better. She explained that the best foods are always organic, and dishes made with organic ingredients are the best.
According to Chau B. Lee, a writer for Freely Magazine, wrote in his article What Food Tells Us About Culture said, “food is an important part of culture, [and] traditional cuisine is passed down from one generation to the next.”
For Judy Liahona Soloai, a junior from New Zealand majoring in social work, said her favorite food comes from her Maori culture. Soloai said, “Meat pies are my favorite food from back home. The texture is so delicious. I think meat pies are the best because you can have them at any occasion and any time of the year. They never get old.”
For Soana Fifita, a senior from Tonga majoring in social work, Lu Sipi is her favorite because the combination of ingredients. According to Fifita, taro leaves, mixed with coconut milk, onions, and lamb is the best combination. She said, “the dish is so juicy and delicious and you can’t get enough of it.”
For some students, especially for Tali Talia’ai Tanielu, a Senior from American Samoa majoring in biology, food simply has to smell good for people to get hooked. Tanielu said, “Corn beef with corn is the best, not just because it tastes good, but also smells delicious.” Tanielu inhaled deeply and described the smell of this dish as intoxicating and made her wish she was eating it right now. Tanielu said corn beef, “when cooked correctly, makes people keep going back for more servings because you can keep smelling it.”
According to Julia Hughes, a sophomore from Texas majoring in biochemistry, a Mexican dish called mole is the her favorite. She said, “[It’s] parts of sweet and spicy mixed together. [This combination] “is all the good things in the world combined into one.” Hughes said that this traditional Mexican dish, which is closely related to enchiladas, is “by far the greatest thing known to mankind, simply because all the best flavors come together to make one spectacular dish.”