Letters From Our Editors
Dear Reader,
It is my pleasure to introduce you to the very first issue of Columbia Eats! devoted to food and culture as experienced entirely by our student community.
Coming to Columbia as a freshman, I found a lot of my own community through food. A quick Ferris lunch with a classmate soon became a weekly tradition and a Koronet’s stop after a night out introduced me to one of my closest friends. Food as a channel for connection is not new to me. Growing up in an Indian family, I was always taught to see food as conduit for love and hospitality. The aroma of decadent spices coming from the kitchen told me not only what was being prepared for dinner, but also who may be joining us, and what conversations the evening would entail.
My wish to start a food and culture magazine on campus developed as a way to honor this power of food to build and maintain connection and community. Bringing this early idea to a good friend and wonderful co-editor, Emani Fung, led to the privilege of gathering an incredible team and brainstorming ideas all together. After a semester of compiling our favorite recipes and culinary adventures, we are so happy to see this magazine come to life and to share it with you.
Within these pages, you will indulge in the mouth-watering chicken taco recipe that one of our members simply can't resist whenever she visits home and discover the enticing details of a popular establishment that another member has been frequenting for years. These delectable articles and recipes are not only snippets of our own food experiences, they're also little windows into what we love and what makes us who we are.
We hope that reading through this very first issue, and all the issues to come, allows you to immerse yourselves in a little bit of what makes us happy – and reminds you of all the special recipes, meals, and love you’ve shared with those close to your own heart.
Sincerely,
Arpita Iyer, Editor in Chief
To our lovely foodies,
Allow me to let you in on my most poorly-kept secret: food is constantly on my mind. I often start my mornings on the Columbia Dining website, scoping out my options and pondering the best off-peak time to head to the Ferris Action Station. I spend way too much of my salary on $17 salads from Sweetgreen, and I can barely finish a meal without some sort of sweet chaser afterwards. I swear I’m not a picky eater, but I must admit, I am pretty particular about what I eat. I know what my taste buds like, and what they don’t like, and I am constantly looking for ways to verbalize these reactions. My friends have probably heard me explain my disdain for starchy Italian cuisine a million times. They hear me rave about the complex textures and flavors of poke at least once a week. In high school, my friends would call me ‘The Food Critic.’ At first, this label annoyed me. Now, I find it somewhat flattering.
When my friend Arpita Iyer approached me last semester to start Columbia Eats!, that little food critic in me perked up a bit. That critic knew that a food magazine is exactly what Columbia’s literary scene has been missing. Eating is one of life’s core experiences. It sustains our bodies through the bustle of our daily lives. It gives families a time to debrief and destress and gives first dates something to do with their hands. We never talk about it and yet we can’t stop talking about it.
As students in a city often called the cultural epicenter of the world, we are surrounded by great dining experiences. We have constant exposure to good eats of all price levels and cultural backgrounds. There’s nothing your taste buds could want that isn’t a short subway ride (or UberEats order) away. This can sometimes feel like sensory overload—especially when you realize that you’ve overbooked yourself with brunch and dinner plans and forgotten to schedule in actual study time. But more often than not, it feels like a blessing. We hope that, with this issue, we can share our gratitude for the food that spices up our daily lives and maybe inspire you to savor your next meal a little more. With that, welcome to Columbia Eats! and welcome to the flavors of New York.
Cheers!
Emani Fung, Managing Editor