Listen Here
By: Leah Alsept
Twitter: @l_mac0913
In an effort to promote the use of fresh vegetables, the University of Findlay hosted called “Cooking with Chef”. Executive Chef for Sodexo at the University of Findlay, Elias Haane, set up shop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in The Refinery last Tuesday, Sept. 24 to demonstrate what cooking with fresh ingredients can do to help your health.
Haane cooked up pasta primavera for visitors and handed out samples for anyone that wanted a taste. Recipes for the dish were offered on notecards to any person who wanted to make them at home.
Primavera means “springtime” in Italian, and according to the man that created the dish, Sirio Maccioni, he invented it in 1974 and it seemed like a good idea, as reported by the New York Times.
The ingredients in pasta primavera are often fresh vegetables. In one recipe by Giada de Launrentiis, carrots, zucchini, squash, bell peppers, and cherry tomatoes are used.
Haane was excited to use some of those vegetables to provide pasta primavera to students who attended.
“I wanted to bring fresh vegetables from the farm to the table. And I wanted to show this food and what this good food is all about,” Chef Hanne said.
Marketing Coordinator for Dining Services at the University of Findlay, Melissa Carrick, said that all the produce being sold in the market next to Chef Hanne can be used to make pasta primavera.
“Since it’s healthy campus week, we are promoting healthier options,” Carrick said. “We have so many different options here [at the University of Findlay] for healthy eating, whether it be in the dining hall or here at The Refinery, so we wanted to bring Chef [Hanne] out, have him prepare a vegetarian dish with very fresh vegetables and provide that for the students to take home with them.”
“I want them to take the way, anywhere they go, they understand what the fresh food is all about. Not just only processing. I want them to eat healthy, and make sure all the food is great enough for everyone,” Chef Hanne said.
If you missed this demonstration, don’t fret, Chef Haane is planning on doing another demonstration later this semester.
“I want to try and do another one before Thanksgiving break. I’m excited to cook some more,” said Haane.
Findlay Student, Lane Brooks, is excited to hear that and would certainly come back if Haane is cooking again.
“It was really good, I will definetly come back if he’s here. The dish was amazing,” said Brooks.
