Issue 43 - University of Surrey's Student Union

16 FEATURES
The Stag | 6 th March 2012 features@thestagsurrey.co.uk
Food Lovers:
No more shopping
The iExhibition
is for you!
By Hannah Wann, Features Team
This being my first iExhibition, I wasn’t sure what to
expect. All I really knew was that it was to celebrate
the diversity of our campus at Surrey and that there
was free food - always good. I turned up ten minutes
in to the start, expecting to be pretty early, and to my
surprise it was already packed! People were queuing
all the way through Rubix to get to the main area of
stalls where crowds were jostling to get a taste of what
was on offer, bongo drums were beating and lively
music playing from the GU2 Radio Station. And I was
not disappointed – there was food, and lots of it. Now,
before this event, I liked to think of myself as quite a
diverse eater... I mean, I like Chinese, Indian, Japanese,
Greek, Italian... what surprises would there really be at
this iExhibition? Boy, was I wrong. Going around the
stalls I didn’t recognise half of the food being served by
all the different societies - it was great!
Firstly, I made a bee line for the Indian Society’s stall
– curry being a favourite of mine – and before I knew it
was being persuaded to try a hollow fried crisp-looking
thing that they poured a spicy concoction into, which
you had to eat whole in one go. They told me, amusedly,
as I coughed and cried and gasped for water, that it
was called a ‘Pani Puri’. Their faces showed me I was
clearly not as much of a hardcore-spice lover as I had
hoped. Although it did make my eyes water so much I
wished I’d worn waterproof mascara, it was definitely
something I’d never tried before, or even heard of, and
not anything I’d usually order off the menu of my local
Indian on a Friday night. First new food experience –
check.
My next tastings were less traumatic; I stocked up
on a few of my favourites like chorizo from the Spanish
Society’s stall and camembert from the French, and
instantly fell in love with Sri Lankan food as soon as
I reached their table. Not only did it look brilliantly
colourful and exotic but it all tasted amazing. I’d never
experienced Sri Lankan food before, I’d never really
even considered it, but their kiribath (sticky coconutmilk
rice) with katta sambol (a kind of chilli paste) won
me over. I also found that, shock horror, I did actually
like chickpeas – something I’ve always pretty boring
and tasteless – just when they were cooked in the right
way, Sri Lankan kadala style. The Nepalese Society also
caught my attention, and not just because they were by
far the loudest and liveliest of the stalls! Their curries
– aloo dum and chana masala – were seriously good,
making me re-think why I always only stick to Indian
curries?!
Throughout the night I also lost my chocolatejelly-virginity
at the Malaysian Society’s stall, after
dropping my first two pieces – jelly with a fork...
really? – and noted down that I should attempt to
make Nigerian jollof rice some time, as it tasted great
and looked pretty simple to make, with few complex
ingredients; student-friendly. Overall, I think the
event was a complete success, from not just my own
experience, but everyone else’s that I’ve talked to. It
was lively, free, fun and most of all, different! I tried
many traditional cultural foods I would never have got
the opportunity, or initiative, to try elsewhere and it
made me realise how boring my diet actually is! So if
you love food, like me, here are my top 5 foods of the
night that I experienced for the first time - I highly
recommend you try:
1. Kiribath and katta sambol (Sri Lankan)
2. Chana masala (Nepalese)
3. Serra da Estrela cheese (Portuguese)
4. Jollof rice (Nigerian)
5. Gol Gappa Pan Puri (Pakistani)
Food lovers, do not miss the next
iExhibition!
By Ellis Taylor, Features Team
What’s your favourite thing
to do? We all have that
one thing that cheers you up
when you’re feeling like poop
and passes the time when you’re
bored. Now, try and give that
up for a month. Tough, right?
Well, I’m giving up shopping for
a whole month. I KNOW. It’s like
I’ve gone mad or something, or
just realised that food just might
be more important than clothes.
However, I can’t go a whole
month without any new addition
to my bulging wardrobe, so in
times of little money I’ve been
doing some mind maps (literally),
trying to figure out how I can do
a Matrix style bend around the
rules I set myself. Some ideas,
as I’ve now realised, are a little
unrealistic, but if anyone has
a Tardis I can borrow so I can
travel forward one month to a
time when I can shop, please let
me know. We could even have a
future-celebratory shopping trip
together.
For my first idea, I’ve been
trying to come up with a cool
name for it. It’s not clothes
swapping because you don’t keep
items, and borrowing isn’t an
exciting word. So I think it should
be called wardrobe merging. That
sounds a little more interesting,
but it’s basically borrowing and
lending. However, the negative
to this is that since coming to
University, I’ve realised that I
have an abnormal amount of
clothes, so I seem to be lending
more than borrowing. It does
store up a few “I lent you this
so you have to lend me that”
grudges though. So make your
mate a cup of tea, and bribe them
into lending you that piece that
would look totally perfect with
that other thing for that night.
Now, some of you may
argue that this next idea can be
classified as shopping, but if the
money goes to charity and the
clothes aren’t brand new then
it doesn’t count! Charity shops
are some of the best things ever.
Not only does it give you karma
points and count as your good
deed of the day, but you can find
some real gems in there. You may
find some classic 90s styles that
make you wonder who let them
survive, and you may even want
to do a very loud laugh at some
items (I’m guilty of that one). But
trust me, charity shops are great.
Personally, I’m against buying
second hand shoes, however
make sure you check out the
jewellery and look deeper before
you run out the shop, afraid
you’ll end up smelling like your
dear old Gran.
So you’ve hunted through
the charity shops, dressed like
Indiana Jones (fancy dress noncompulsory)
and found a dress
that either a) is a little too long
for your liking/height; b) has
a great skirt but an ugly top;
c) a great top and an ugly skirt.
STOP. Don’t put it back on the
rail, hand over the £3 and let your
inner seamstress out. Simple
adjustments are easy-peasy; all
it requires is concentration and
touch of patience. Better yet,
make something from scratch.
A skirt is the simplest thing to
make –however, I would only
recommend such a task if you
have access to a sewing machine,
unless, of course, you’re amazing
at hand stitching and have a heck
of a lot of spare time. It’s going
to be a tough month, but all that
time away from the shops might
mean a hand stitched something
is in order.
©mrjoro
Sometimes you just have to make do and mend