A sophomore at NAI, Lorenzo Zottoli shared with us that his all-time favorite dish is gnocchi. Gnocchi is an Italian, potato-based pasta that can be served in a  number of ways. Lorenzo expressed that this is his favorite dish because it makes him feel one with his Italian roots. The first time Lorenzo ever had gnocchi was at his Grandmother’s house, and ever since, gnocchi has always had a special place in his heart.

Another sophomore at NAI, Zoë Sage Tracey loves the food of all cultures, but her favorite dish would have to be stew chicken. Stew chicken is a popular dish throughout the English speaking Caribbean islands. This dish includes chicken that has been sauteed with brown sugar creating a rich gravy along with a variety of vegetables including onions, carrots, and garlic. Zoë recalls the very first time she ever had this dish was at her dad’s restaurant in Los Angeles. She is a proud Belizean woman, so this Belizean dish is one of her all-time favorites.

Next, we talked with Lindey Glinoga, a sophomore at NAI who loves pancit. Pancit is a dish that is present in many different cultures. However, Lindey actually first tried pancit in the Philippines when she was just three years old. Pancit consists of noodles that are traditionally cooked with soy sauce along with shrimp and chopped vegetables.She told us that it has a similar taste to stir fry but there are noodles instead of rice and shrimp instead of chicken. Ever since first trying it in the Philippines, Lindey has had the delicious dish, pancit, at the top of her favorite food list.

Patrick Keenan, another sophomore at NAI, shared with us that his favorite dish is halo-halo. A popular Filipino dish, halo-halo is a cold dessert with a base of crushed ice and evaporated milk along with sweetened beans, coconut strips, pinipig rice, fruit slices, sago, flan, and is topped with a scoop of ice cream. Patrick told us that the first time he ever had halo-halo was when he was 6 years old with his mom. Ever since then, one of Patrick’s favorite foods has been this dish.

Finally, Marina Bell describes her grandma’s famous spaghetti and meatball dish. Grandma Bell first made her delicious dish for Marina when she was four years old. Marina describes that the sauce is not like any other Italian spaghetti sauce that she has had because of its very sweet taste. Each time Marina’s family goes to her grandma’s house, the whole family requests that they eat her grandma’s irresistible spaghetti and meatballs!

There are so many students at NAI each with different interests, strong suits, cultural backgrounds, and more, but it is nice to know that there is one thing that can always bring us together: food!

We wish we could’ve interviewed each and every one of you. Please leave a comment on what your favorite food is!