Lake Braddock is a diverse school with many people of different backgrounds. Not everyone at LB eats the same food or has the same traditions. Students come from all over the world, and have different favorite foods that they or their family like to eat and make.
Sophomore Niva Sainju is from Nepal. Nepal is a country that is located in between China and India. Her favorite dish that she likes to make is called “momos”.
“It’s kinda like dumplings, but we make them kinda differently,” Sainju said.
Momos are usually filled with vegetables and/or ground turkey. They are put inside small balls of dough and are steamed or fried.
“For momos specifically, we usually have them like if it’s for an event or something special.” Sainju said.
The history of this food is unknown. According to tasteofnepal.blogspot.com, it is most commonly believed that momos were brought to Nepal by Newari traders from Tibet, or that it was introduced by Tibetans who moved to the mountains in Nepal. Freshman Katie Moniz is from Italy and her favorite dish that she likes to make with her family is pasta.
“My grandmother makes this really good pasta sauce,” Moniz said.
A lot of different countries in Europe, such as Germany and Hungary have their own version of pasta, which makes its origin hard to trace. Although most people think that pasta came from Italy, according to pbs.com it is believed that noodles similar to pasta were produced in China a long time ago. Then, the noodles moved to the west through trade. Once the noodles reached Europe, the process was polished. Pasta became a staple of Italian culture because the warm conditions let Italians grow a number of different vegetables to put in the sauce.
“Usually every time we go [we make the sauce] so not very often, it’s kind of a treat,” Moniz said.
Sophomore Lori Ohannessian is from Armenia, which is located next to Turkey. One of the foods that she likes to make is called Kofte.
“It’s like meat but then it has some sort of greens in it,” Ohannessian said.
According to sevan360.com, Armenian food is influenced by many other cultures and countries as well. Some of the places that the Armenian culture is influenced by include the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Also, Armenian cuisine has in turn influenced other countries and cities such as Aleppo. Another food that Ohannessian and her family make is Lahmahjoon, which is like a Armenian pizza.
“We make them once or twice a year, once on my dad’s birthday, and the 6th of January which is the Epiphany,” Ohannessian said.