The experience of being in a completely different country and adapting to an entirely new culture is one of the first challenges international students encounter. During this time, finding the cure for homesickness becomes essential.
For Chloé Bernier, a senior studying dietetics, cooking is a way to reconnect with home and share her culture with her friends in the United States.
The tempting scent of warm crepes, melting butter and roasting vegetables wafts through the MCOE space in the Downtown Campus, where Bernier has set up a food demo to share the food she loves with passersby.
Her passion for food shines through everything she does — reserving a space for the food demo and cooking a truly delicious meal while keeping up in seamless conversation.
She even saved some crepes from nearly burning while doing this.
"I think the main part that I've brought to my friends is cooking more at home, rather than buying food: that is, I'm able to cook for them whenever I have time," Bernier said. "When it comes to crepes, I'll say, I make it like two to three times a month, just because I like cooking for other people."
Bernier said that the American food industry was a big part of the culture shock she experienced when she first moved to the U.S.
"I definitely go to Trader Joe's more though, because I feel like their produce is more fresh and they have more options, or more like what we have in France," Bernier said.
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Bernier believes that food can bring people together, and spoke about how food was a big part of her family when she was growing up.
"Crepes are just a regular thing that you do, but on top of that, it brings everyone closer together," Bernier said.
In this manner, food is a lot like wifi — it connects people across continents and introduces people to things they haven't experienced before.
What international students seem to miss the most, along with their friends and family back home, is the essence of the place they spent most of their lives in.
"I grew up (in India)," said Deepali Kola, a junior studying corporate accounting. "I'm accustomed to the culture there. I love our culture. I love how it brings everyone together in terms of friends, family, food and clothes."
In the process of adopting a new lifestyle, one can lose connection with the life they left behind. For many students at ASU, recreating food from their home countries can be a way of taking a little bite of home.
For Kola, a dish called Pachi Pulusu — a translucent curry with onions, tomatoes and tamarind, served cold alongside rice and chicken — brings her nostalgia and reminds her of home.
"When summer starts in India, this is the first thing we make enough in our house, just to cool our systems down," Kola said. "Summer vacation starts, your first week of holiday starts. So you get your independence, and your independence is welcomed with Pachi Pulusu," Kola said.
Some other foods just take the cake in being fundamental to bringing people together, such as Bún bò Huế, which is a beef noodle soup with a rich, flavorful broth, rice noodles and sliced beef eaten in Vietnam.
This is a food that Daisy Nguyen, a freshman studying nursing, connects with deeply.
"My grandma would make this dish every weekend when I visit her. I honestly think she makes the best bún bò Huế, better than any restaurants out there," Nguyen said in an email.
Nguyen is reminded of her family and her home in Ho Chi Minh City every time she tastes the savory and spicy flavor characteristic of Bún Bò Huế.
Neither Kola nor Nguyen have been able to find accurate renditions of the foods they love in the States, and they agree that their mother and grandmother's versions of these dishes are invaluable.
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Abigail Beck, Tiya Talwar and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at ktale@asu.edu and follow @KasturiTale on X.
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Kasturi is a sophomore studying journalism. This is her second semester with The State Press. She has her own blog and has worked in creative writing.
