Moises Duque, right, gives a customer a traditional home-made taco from Honduras during A Taste of Culture, Friday  (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Promoting multiculturalism

Taste of Culture offers traditional dishes, entertainment from around the world

May 31, 2019 | 5:45 PM

Moises Duque from Honduras took special care as he prepared a taco recipe from his home country, topped with some savory guacamole for one of his many customers.

Duque and his family served fresh blackberry and pineapple drinks as well as posol, a rice-based refreshment at their booth at the Western Development Centre – one of many cultural groups taking part in Taste of Culture in North Battleford.

“It’s pretty exciting; you get to meet lots of people,” Duque said.

The annual event provides an opportunity for visitors to sample cuisine from around the globe and learn about various cultures in the area at the same time.

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Duque, who lives in North Battleford, said it’s difficult to find authentic food from Honduras in the community, so he enjoys preparing meals from his country at home whenever he can. He said he heard many positive comments from visitors sampling different items at his booth.

“They love it,” Duque said. “Everything has to be freshly made, otherwise it doesn’t taste right. My mother does the tortillas right away, from scratch. That’s the whole idea.”

Susanna Biro, right, and Szilvia Kalmar prepare some traditional cuisine from Hungary at the Taste of Culture event, Friday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

A few booths down, Susanna Biro and Szilvia Kalmar could be seen setting out home-made meals from Hungary, sharing their families’ traditions.

They prepared a variety of delicacies for customers to tuck into, such as potato paprika pasta, and for dessert, a sweet walnut-roll.

“Those are all made by hand, and they are all traditional family recipes,” Biro said.

The group enjoy coming to the Battlefords to showcase food from their home-country each year for this event.

“This is such a friendly, lovely atmosphere here,” Biro said. “From the first year we came, we were very warmly welcomed…. We’ve had such a warm response from the people here.”

Biro said the cooking group is also a dance group that goes by the Maros Hungarian Folk Dance Ensemble. They planned to perform as part of Saturday’s entertainment. The group has members from North Battleford, Saskatoon, Regina, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

The entertainment for Taste of Culture included dancers from a wide range of countries, including the Bollywood Dance Group and Chinese Dancers.

Battlefords Immigration Resource Centre settlement manager and Taste of Culture coordinator Chizuru Kishida said 12 food vendors participated this year as well as a wide range of dance groups, and other vendors providing various craft items.

She said the multicultural festival is a good way to bring the many different cultures from the area together under one roof.

“There are so many opportunities in (the Battlefords) to try different cuisines,” Kishida added. “So this is a great opportunity for people to try something new, learn about a new culture, and also make new friends.”

A Taste of Culture continues Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow