On Thursday May 9, 2013, the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK) organized its 10th Festival of Traditional Cuisine of Southern Countries.

The festival was inaugurated with the presence of the Secretary General of the University, Rev. Fr. Michel Abou Tacca, the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Rev. Fr. Joseph Wakim, the Head of the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Dr. Rony Abboud and a number of ambassadors and consuls of southern countries; such as, Brazil, India, Venezuela, Cuba, El Salvador, South Africa, Tunisia, Ghana, Jordan, Malaysia and Thailand.

The Head of the Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Dr. Rony Abboud, introduced the event and gave the floor to the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Rev. Fr. Joseph Wakim who praised the students for their efforts in order to understand the countries they are representing; they studied the history, geography, main religions, traditions, and special occasions. He added: “The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik is well aware that introducing people to the cultural heritage of different countries is of an utmost importance and necessary, especially because it is a part of the educational advancement…”

It is noteworthy, that this festival is within the course “Nutrition in Communities” where the students were divided into groups and implement a project on food in southern countries with the assistance of the embassies of the chosen countries. The Faculty is working on the development of this project through the tasting festival organized by the students.

Members of the jury toured the stands of each country, tasted some dishes and graded students according to the chosen kinds of food, the decoration, the cooking, the distributed brochures and the costumes.

The event also included dancing and singing shows performed by groups coming from the participating countries.