On March 27, Lambda Theta Phi hosted an event dedicated to teaching people how to make Latin foods. They called the event “Sabor Latino!”

Christopher Hinojo, senior in microbiology, is the assistant event coordinator for Lambda Theta Phi and took the lead on planning this event. The event was different than some of their other events throughout the year.

“This is just something fun and free we’re putting on to thank the ISU student body for supporting us throughout the year at our philanthropy events,” Hinojo said.

The Multipurpose Room in the Union Drive Community Center was filled with about 50 students as they gathered to take part in the interactive Latino cooking demonstration.

Hinojo said they wanted to make something other than the typical dishes you would think of, such as tacos and burritos. The fraternity brothers showed guests how to prepare plantains, empanadas and bunuelos — all easy and inexpensive traditional dishes.

“We want to teach people an economical way to serve yourself in college,” Hinojo said.

Hinojo said he grew up surrounded by Latin culture while living in New Jersey with his Peruvian parents. He is a first generation college student, but he said it was easy to lose touch with his culture when he moved away.

“I moved here in sixth grade and it was a big culture shock when you don’t get to hear your language, you don’t get the same food and you just lose touch a little bit,” said Hinojo.

Emma Rink, freshman in pre-business and member of the greek community, said that when she heard about the event, she was excited to check it out.

“I like to cook in my spare time and ‘Sabor Latino!’ seemed like a fun way to spice up my cooking skills while supporting the greek community,” Rink said.

Members of the fraternity went up to the front of the room and began by giving a brief history of the ingredients of the dishes being shown, passing around informational papers.

“It was really fun to learn the history behind the ingredients because it makes me feel better educated on the cuisine I will be preparing,” Rink said.

After they were given the history of the ingredients, audience members were invited to come up and try cooking. A couple of the guests got to compete and see who could peel and slice the plantains quickest.

“Having these events helps the Latino people in our fraternity feel more at home with the culture while being able to share a little bit of that with other people,” Hinojo said.

Rink said she enjoyed the fun and lighthearted environment.

When the members actually began cooking, the rest of the audience was encouraged to go up and stand around the table so they could see how it is actually made.

“It was nice to be able to be shown some of the cooking techniques from people who have grown up around the food,” Rink said. “I think that that will help me when I try to make some of the recipes with my mom this summer.”