University Dining hosted a Spanish-themed meal Wednesday evening to educate students about the culture and food of Spain. Fountain and Clark dining halls held the event from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. 

“Usually we do Oktoberfest this time of year,” said Steven Lester, evening chef for Fountain Dining Hall. “But this time we figured we’d do something a little bit different.”

Typically, Fountain Dining Hall serves about 1,500 meals per night, and Clark serves about 800, but attendance increases for themed meals, said Keith Smith, director of dining halls at NC State. 

University Dining prepared for the estimated 3,300 people were expected to have attended, according to Smith. 

“I didn’t even know it was happening, I just kind of came,” said Shawnak Doshi, freshman in civil engineering. “I thought the environment and atmosphere were well set up. I thought the food was really good and unique.”

The meal offered dishes such as seafood paella and vegetable empanada.

“When all the dishes are out there together, there’s so much color and brightness,” said Julie Staples, recipe development chef for University Dining. “I think the paella is probably one of my favorites.”

The goals of the meal including highlighting the talents of the culinary staff and to educate students on Spanish culture, Smith said.

“Here at Fountain we have a lot of really diverse talent,” Lester said. “Coming from New York, I’ve worked with Spanish my whole life. We have a lot of diversity in New York.”

Some students came specifically to get a taste of Spanish culture and to experience new foods.

“I came to the Spain meal, because I’m actually going to study abroad in Spain in about two years,” said Sam LaFell, freshman in communications. “It was a good meal. I think it met my expectations pretty well. They did a really good job at trying to incorporate the culture into such a small space.” 

Themed meals at dining halls are a good opportunity for students to try new foods, Smith said. 

“When you’re somewhere where people have to pay for each individual item, I think it’s harder to get people to try the different foods,” Smith said. “At a themed dinner, everyone usually gets one of everything and tries it out.”

The menu for the meal was planned about a year ago, and the dining staff worked hard to prepare for the event, according to Smith.

“We had over 1,000 pounds of fresh ham, 600 pounds of potatoes and just a really huge amount of product,” Lester said. “When you have to peel and slice 600 pounds of potatoes, it’s a lot of work.”

Organizers of the event tried to incorporate cultural education and history into the event by labeling different dishes with information about the food.

“When they said we’re going to do a Spain meal, I went to cookbooks and found out some traditional dishes,” Staples said. “We based our menu off of some popular traditional dishes.”

In the future, University Dining hopes to get more input and recipe ideas from students, Staples said.

“We focus a lot on holidays, local food and doing theme events that are centered around cultures,” Smith said. “We’ve got a Brazilian meal coming out in January.”