Despite being 1,500 miles away from New Orleans, Emerson students could smell Mardi Gras on Boylston Street as the aroma from Cajun-inspired dishes wafted through Emerson’s dining hall on Tuesday night.
While Emerson students only see (and eat) the final product, a lot occurs behind the scenes to ensure that the dining hall’s offerings remain diverse, nutritious, and engaging. Alex Drumm, the dining hall’s executive chef, spoke to The Beacon not only about preparing cultural cuisine but also about the daily effort to feed a hungry student body.
Mardi Gras is a holiday from New Orleans that historically is a celebration before the fasting of Lent, where partakers party, drink, and binge on Fat Tuesday—translated from the French “Mardi Gras.” The dining hall’s event on Tues. March 4 was the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, when students let the good times roll, or “laissez les bons temps rouler” in French.
The star item of the night was the king cake, which was both parts coffee cake and cinnamon roll. Decorated in the holiday’s green, purple, and gold, the cake is a staple of the Cajun holiday.
“When we do an event like this, or those large cultural events like Lunar New Year, or events that are connected to religious holidays, or like Black History Month, we try to get the students involved,” said Drumm.
Drumm tries to make the dining hall feel like an ongoing conversation with the students. He reads the dining hall’s large suggestion chalkboard every day, taking note of what students are craving.
“We track everything that is written, and at the end of the year, it goes on a spreadsheet. We go over it, and as a management group, we see what the trends are,” said Drumm. “If one person writes it or says it, chances are they’re not alone. So I take all suggestions—they’re all something we can grow from.”
Drumm formerly worked at Harvard University as a cook for five years, which he claims had a less flexible menu schedule. Drumm described it as a “cycle menu,” where the menus were predetermined weekly up to four weeks, and then they would repeat. At Emerson, however, Drumm has the opportunity to customize the menu to what the students are craving. “Students want ravioli, so I got the ravioli.”
This week’s Mardi Gras event is no exception. Drumm spoke on having to balance student suggestions, cultural and historical precedents, and ensuring the menu is fully rounded. For Tuesday’s Mardi Gras night, the kitchen staff decided on various classic Cajun dishes. One station held blackened chicken, steamed jasmine rice, and stewed rice beans. However, Drumm was sure the station was missing something. “From my point of view, the station still needed a vegetable,” said Drumm.
“Even though normally on that station we would only serve three items, we’re serving a fourth, braised collard greens, just to keep with the theme, and so there’s an actual fresh vegetable with the dish,” said Drumm. “My responsibility is balancing the menu, ensuring that the station is displayed fully with the items that go with the dish, to kind of make it a complete thought. I just feel, in our world, that not having a vegetable would be an incomplete thought.”
Drumm expressed gratitude for his team, describing a deep feeling of camaraderie in the kitchen. “There’s no way I could do this by myself. There’s no absolute way that I could manage all of this and cook myself.” Drumm was clear that the final product is a team effort. “I work on the menus, [but] I have two sous-chefs that work on the menus as well, daily.”
When Drumm hears of a dish that was particularly when received, he makes a point of mentioning it to the staff and complimenting the cook. “I say, ‘This is the person that made it.’ I’m going to share it with them. It definitely solidifies us as a team,” said Drumm.
Drumm hopes to continue mixing up the menu with new dishes, especially for cultural events. “The school wants the student body to have good food. It’s great for me because I get to serve good food.”
