Indonesian cooking lessons Friday

If Lotus Festival isn’t enough world culture for one weekend, take a stroll Friday to the Asian Culture Center for a free cooking lesson in Indonesian cuisine. \nParticipants will be able to learn how to make popular Indonesian dishes beginning at 5 p.m. at the ACC, with the instruction of Evita Luminto, president of the Indonesian Student Association.\nIndonesian cuisine is not well-known in the U.S., according to IndoChef.com, but is similar to Thai and Vietnamese dishes. Specialties of Indonesia include “nasi goring,” Indonesian fried rice, and “sambal goring telor,” a traditional egg dish with shrimp and coconut. \nACC Program and Administrative Assistant Babita Upadhyay encouraged “all who are interested, both from the Bloomington and IU communities” to attend the demonstration. \n“Food is a very important part of all Asian cultures,” Upadhyay said. “In most of the Asian countries, food is considered sacred, and the entire family sits together to eat and enjoy their meals. Although drive-through fast food is making inroads into Asia, food still retains its strong symbolic and religious meaning in people’s daily lives. The ACC’s cooking demo is one way for everyone in Bloomington to experience the importance of food to the Asian people.” \nSince space is limited at the ACC, prospective attendees are asked to register for the event by calling the center at 856-5361 or sending an e-mail to acc@indiana.edu. Other ethnic cooking demonstrations will be given as the semester progresses.