What kind of foodie are you?

HEALTHY EATER

Senior Utam Moses was not always a healthy eater. When she was growing up, her family had quite a sweet tooth.

“We always had soft drinks, snacks and sweets around in abundance,” she said. “We ate a lot of fast food, and my mom microwaved everything, including the Thanksgiving turkey.”

It was not until high school, when she made the decision to become a vegetarian and started cooking her own meals, that she became mindful about her eating habits. Now eating organically and holistically is a priority. 

Though she was a vegetarian for eight years, Utam recently started eating meat again. When she consulted a traditional Chinese doctor, she was enlightened about the importance meat plays in supporting joints and tendons, an important aspect for someone majoring in contemporary dance.

“I think it is hard being a vegetarian and being very physically active and busy,” Utam said.

When she does eat meat, however, Utam makes it her main concern that the animals were raised naturally.

“All of the hormones and antibiotics they put in meat can be transferred to our bodies,” she said. “You are what you eat.”

For someone who would like to become a healthier eater, but may not know where to begin, Utam has some advice: Invest in a juicing machine to add more fruits and vegetables to a diet. In fact, her favorite recipe is a combination of apples, kale, lemon and carrots.

Above all, she recommends to “start with easy things. Drink more juice. Eat more salad, and don’t be extremist about it. It is all about balance.”

SPICY EATER

It’s often said that some like it hot. But some, like Peter Kidane, like it even hotter.
Kidane, a freshman in the pre-pharmacy program, calls himself the “Hot Tamale” and has grown up acquiring a taste for heat. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the hottest, Kidane definitely likes his food sizzling at level 10.

“Otherwise it’s just not worth it,” he said.

As daring as Kidane’s eating habits are, his taste buds are used to it because Kidane comes from an Eritrean background. In Eritrea, a country located on the Horn of Africa, spices are not used sparingly, and heat is more than an idea.

One common Eritrean dish, and a favorite of Kidane’s, injera, is a pancake-like flatbread that’s often served with tsebhi, a spicy stew consisting of chicken and a common mixture of spices known as berbere.

When not eating injera, Kidane can also be found eating ga’at, a temperate porridge often served at breakfast that looks like a miniature volcano filled with a mixture of tesmi, a type of butter, and berbere.

Kitcha fit-fit also lies in the pantheon of Eritrean favorites as enumerated by Kidane. This dish consists of kitcha (unleavened bread), onions, berbere and tesmi.

Kidane’s expectations are simple: It has to be hot. Anyone daring enough can try some of his favorite dishes at Major, an Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant in Indianapolis.
Otherwise, leave it to the experts.

HOMESTYLE EATER

When you first walk into FARMBloomington, smells of fresh flowers and homegrown ingredients overpower the senses. FARMBloomington is one of many local restaurants that offer down-home cooking – that is, comfort food made from scratch.

Chef Daniel Orr, owner of FARMBloomington, has spent many years preparing comfort dishes, the kind that are soothing and put people at ease. Growing up on his family’s farm made cooking from scratch quite simple.

“My parents always had an edible landscape around our home,” Orr said.
His family grew raspberries and apples and even made their own wine.

Orr’s restaurant uses down-home cooking to enhance each dish with flavors that come only from scratch.

From spaghetti-and-meatball Monday nights to his fried chicken made with buttermilk Wednesdays, each weeknight features a special comfort-type dish offered for less than $15. 

Because Orr spent many years traveling abroad, he has been able to explore multiple cultures and cooking styles.

“I like to call the food here at FARMBloomington ‘local food with global flavor,’” Orr said.

Orr’s buttermilk biscuits are among his favorite breakfast dishes.

“The biscuits on the menu are amazing,” FARMBloomington employee Rhiannon Vaughn said. “Comfort food makes me feel like I am back home when I was little with my grandma.”

Orr said to not always try new recipes when inviting company over.

“Start cooking things you like,” Orr said. “Try to specialize in two or three dishes, then build on that.”

FANCY EATER

It isn’t difficult to eat well in Bloomington. There are restaurants catering to sophisticated tastes all over town, but the most obvious response when asked for a fine dining establishment is the Scholars Inn Gourmet Cafe & Wine Bar, located at 717 N. College Ave.

The Scholars Inn’s classically trained executive chef, Jake Brenchley, is a major reason for its renown. He has been fascinated by gourmet cooking from a young age – his first job was as a dishwasher at a high-end restaurant when he was 16.

“I moved my way up to working on the line,” he said. “I worked with a very fine French-trained chef that encouraged me to go to culinary school and to always strive to train under the best chefs I could.”

Brenchley emphasizes that fine dining doesn’t have to be frightening, and he tries to put a gourmet spin on popular and familiar dishes for customers at the Scholars Inn.

“The exciting part for me is when they experience a favorite dish in a totally new way,” he said.

The chef isn’t exclusively a connoisseur, and he admits to succumbing to the temptations of the crock pot and the fast food drive-thru. Still, the best meal he’s ever eaten is decidedly gourmet.

“The best meal I ever had was in the home of a Portuguese friend while I was living in France: a perfectly cooked rabbit, braised turnips, fresh carrots, pork belly stuffing and a sauce so amazing that to this day I have been unable to recreate it.”