La Salle students participated in the annual Roots Week Food Fair on Friday, May 2, celebrating culture and heritage by trying different foods brought in by families of students. This was a continuation of a larger celebration during Roots Week, which included the Roots Assembly and Roots Walk on Wednesday, April 30. 

Students and teachers received three tickets in homeroom before the fair, each of which they could exchange for food once the event began. Once students were dismissed to the cafeteria, volunteers served a myriad of cultural dishes, lining the walls with tables and food piled high. 

After they spent their tickets, students spread through the campus. The normally closed doors to the athletic field were flung wide open as a bright sun warmed students sprawling across the fields.

Junior Kat Marks was one student whose family brought in food. She brought small corn muffins — a popular food in her family. 

“My mom bakes all the time; she’s a huge baker,” Marks said, whose favorite baked goods are the corn muffins.

The recipe has been in her family for around 80 years, after her grandmother found it and cut it out from a box. Marks herself can’t make the muffins without a recipe, but they still have the original recipe for use whenever needed.

“The ripped off cardboard part of it they kept is still there,” she said. “It looks very vintage.”

During the food fair, Marks enjoyed the extended lunch the Falcons got. It was extended from the usual half hour to one hour and 20 minutes — enough for many to walk the track, start games in the fields, break piñatas, and continue to celebrate the community’s heritage for Roots Week. 

“I liked the really long lunch,” she said. “I thought that was really nice because I got to spend a lot of time with my friends.”

She also enjoyed trying lots of new foods and appreciated the work people put in to make the dishes. 

“It’s the quality of food that’s homemade, so it’s high quality food,” she said. 

Another student that brought food was sophomore Lila Kim. She and her family brought in Golden Butter Mochi and Ube Bibingka, serving it in one of the plethora of stands set up around the cafeteria.  The food doesn’t have any major significance in her family, but it is a recipe they make often. 

This particular batch was made by Kim’s mother and grandmother, as Kim was busy studying for a test. At the fair, Kim enjoyed observing the different foods.

“It was cool to see all the other food from other cultures,” she said.