GRAND CHUTE - Roasted potato with jam and a wedge of cheese. Beef tongue empanada. Deep fried risotto. Churro with a vanilla dipping sauce that is sweet enough to be a dessert of its own.
Those dishes and plenty more, all prepared by Fox Valley Technical College culinary arts students, are part of the annual Cultural Cuisine.
Portioned out in bite sizes, this year's theme is street food from around the world. Stations will be set up at FVTC for tastes of New York, San Francisco, Europe and Latin America. Desserts draw their inspiration from carnivals and Abbey Road.
This marks the 20th year for this event that also serves as a scholarship fundraiser for the culinary arts and hospitality program.
Students prepared many of the dishes as part of a critique from their instructors, community leaders in the hospitality business and media.
Using the feedback, students will adjust or possibly replace menu items that don't score well.
Having sampled 16 of the dishes as part of the critique, my most memorable bites from each theme were:
Middle Eastern Falafel (New York): The falafel is crunchy, the rice hits on the curry flavors but the tangy tomato chutney really brings it together.
Oskypek (Europe): Tiny roasted potato with a dollop of jam is tasty sweet and salty combo. The earthy cheese flavor puts it over the top.
Beet salad (San Francisco): I'll confess that I don't care much for beets, but the presentation here is stellar and I think beet lovers will dig this dish. Looking like a sushi roll — topped with a walnut — the thin ribbons of beet are perfectly tender.
Braised beef tongue empanada (Latin America): If you weren't told the filling was beef tongue, you probably would think it's just, well, beef. The red pepper sauce is spicy, but not tongue melting hot.
Churro with dipping sauce (desserts): What's not to like here? Deep fried bread rolled in cinnamon sugar. However, dip the churro into the vanilla sauce and be prepared to go back for seconds (OK, who are we kidding here?) and thirds. Any dunkable dessert will benefit from this sweet dip.
Cultural Cuisine 2018
When: 3 to 6 p.m., Feb. 25
Where: Fox Valley Technical College, 1825 N. Bluemound Drive, Grand Chute
Tickets: $45 advance, $60 at the door. Available at the FVTC branch of Community First Credit Union and online ($5 fee for online orders).