UTA serves up turkey, American culture to students at annual Thanksgiving dinner
The University of Texas at Arlington prepared 36 large turkeys, 200 pounds of mashed potatoes and 360 portions of stuffing for their annual Thanksgiving dinner Tuesday. The university’s eight chefs started work Sunday, preparing vegetables, and finished Tuesday evening in time for dinner.
UTA, which has approximately 4,000 international students, hosts the dinner to give those students a chance to experience a part of American culture while giving students far from home a place to have their Thanksgiving dinner with other students, according to a news release.
Anisha Jamil, a student from Bangladesh, said she was excited about experiencing the holiday for the first time.
“This isn’t exactly my culture,” she said. “I’m just experiencing another part of American culture tonight.”
More than 600 students had meals at the campus’ Connection Cafe by 6:30 p.m., halfway through the dinner, the latest number available.
David Aldape, the executive chef for the dinner, said he selected dishes that he hoped would give students a taste of a real American Thanksgiving while adding a little culinary flair to the fare.
In addition to the traditional foods — turkey, candied yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes — the meal also offered glazed pork loins in place of traditional ham and pizza, along with crackers or toast and an assortment of toppings.
Aldape expected to serve between 800 and 900 students by the end of the night.
“This is one of the premier events we enjoy doing,” Aldape said. “We get to share Thanksgiving with students who might not have ever experienced this food or this holiday before, and that’s an honor.”
Cindy Stylinski, the university’s residential district manager and head of the campus’ Thanksgiving dinner, said the event was important to UTA’s leadership.
“I think the UTA community wanted to bring the feeling of Thanksgiving to all our students,” Stylinsk said.
The preparation for the event started about two and a half months ago, with Aldape and his team of eight chefs preparing and proposing menus and UTA making suggestions.
In the end, the settled on two meats and a plethora of sides, including 150 pounds of chipotle raspberry pork loins, 150 pounds of green bean casserole, 80 pounds of broccoli and carrots, 30 gallons of turkey gravy and 15 gallons of cranberry sauce.
Vegan and vegetarian options were also important, he said, because a large group of students on campus don’t eat any meat. Those students could choose from acorn squash, brown rice, seasoned tofu with vegetables and roasted potatoes.
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 9:11 PM.