Burt House’s crème brûlée — made with a blowtorch — won this year’s Taste of Manning with 77 votes.
The Student Activities Board hosted Taste of Manning, an annual competition featuring free food made by students living off campus on Manning Street April 18. Participating houses make different dishes, and the event’s attendees vote on the winners.
Triplex and Jungle were this year’s runners-up, with 25 and 21 votes for Greek pastries and bruschetta respectively. Graceland’s bruschetta and Riverside’s gluten-free Oreo brownies tied for fourth place, with each house receiving 16 votes. Nine off-campus houses participated, according to junior Martha Kennedy, a member of SAB’s creative team.
“I love this event because it brings people together,” Kennedy said. “Living off-campus lets you experience that community, but for those who don’t, it’s nice to sample what it’s like. The food is definitely a plus — I almost cried when I had the crème brûlée, it was so good.”
Kennedy said she was impressed by the creativity of the different houses, with samples ranging from bruschetta to chicken and waffles. Her job was to coordinate with the different Manning Street houses and make each house have supplies for their dishes.
“We get to come and meet new people and taste a bunch of good food. It’s a great study break,” Kennedy said. “It takes 10 minutes to walk up and down and vote for whoever you think is best. And it’s a great way to get outside and meet new people.”
Senior and Lodge resident Lulu Celecia said she decided to participate in Taste of Manning because she lives on Manning Street. Her house made gimbap — Korean seafood rice rolls.
Celecia said she loves Manning Street’s culture.
“Taste of Manning is a chance to show the rest of the college what it looks like to live on this street,” she said in an email. “The street is more like a community than anything else. We definitely get the rep as a party street (which is well deserved), but it’s a lot more than that. It’s a super fun place to live any day of the week. Manning Street ’til I die,” she said.
Celecia said that while Burt House’s crème brûlée had the best setup, she thought every house outperformed last year’s event. She said this year’s highlights included the live music and quality time with her housemates, even if she had to do dishes the whole morning.
Senior and Graceland resident Karin Shively said her housemates have attended Taste of Manning every year. Her house served bruschetta goat cheese bites, a recipe she credits senior Adelle May for providing.
“It’s a fun tradition, so we were excited to actually live in Manning and be able to make something of our own this year,” Shively said.
She said she loves talking to people as they walk around Manning Street during the event.
“It’s been fun to talk to people and try to convince them that ours is the best,” Shively said.
Junior Henry Webster, who will live in Burt next year, passed out spoons at Burt House to attendees.
“I think it was a whole house contribution, but I think Elijah Pangrazio was the main force behind the crème brûlée,” he said.
Webster said he thought Burt had a great house set-up. Attendees walked up to the home’s porch to get crème brûlée from a porch window, and a spoon from another window.
Webster said he thinks Taste of Manning provides a great last chance for senior fellowship.
“For the seniors, they’re just trying to spend time with everyone and enjoy the time they have left. I think everyone, seniors and underclassmen, understand that,” Webster said. “It’s a great chance for them to share a little snack or some food with people.”
