Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1991)
UNL foreign students create authentic meals on campus By Joel Schroeder Staff Reporter Have you ever imagined study ing abroad and having to adapt to a different language and culture? If you have, you probably haven't considered the tilings you would miss, like friends, movies and other things we take for granted. And what about the food? Not many of us would want to part with our hamburgers, hot clogs and, especially, mom's apple pie. Some foreign students at UNL, who are dealing with this situ ation, seem to be adapting well. While customs laws make it il legal to import some foods from other countries, foreign students are usually able to find the foods r-:.-.. they want. German Mendoza, a graduate student from Mexico, says he tries to cook food from his home coun try as often as he can. He says he can find a good amount of the basic food m Lincoln, but cites differences between the food here and the same food in Mexico. "Cattle are much heavier here," Mendoza said, "and the type of cut is different here than in Mex ico." Mendoza also said he and his friends make their own tortillas, because they have more flavor than store-bougnt tortillas. Sung-Dong Han, a philosophy graduate student from Korea, says See FOREIGN on 9 n I Special ‘Valentine I a (Personal Come to the Daily 9\[ebrasfan ‘Basement of the ‘Union Deadline: February 13 bef ore 2:00 I j Night Out at ; ! McDonald's • ! ! I I I ■ : : i ' I McDonalds m ft® Clip and Save I __-1 Doc Homer/Daily Nebraskan Owner of King Tut’s Groceries, Yosry Bishay, restocks cooking oils and checks stock inventory on aisle shelves. East treats western buyer By Heather Heinisch Staff Reporter Have a craving for a chickpea falafei sandwich or perhaps for some halva, the Middle Eastern answer to peanut butter? Yosry Bishay, owner, of Kine Tut's Groceries and Imported Goods, 1642 O St., sells not only falafei and halva but spices, tea, cheese, olives and other food items from all over the world. Bishay says he imports most of the food from the Middle East and Mediterranean, but some things also come from India, Pakistan and northern Europe. Middle Eastern and Mediterra nean people don't eat a lot of meat, he said, but the food is very high in protein and vitamins. "It's healthier than any other food in the world," he said. Among the shelves of canned goods with strange pictures and mostly Arabic writing arecanned squid, stuffed grape loaves, pome granate and mango juice. It takes a tew seconds to figure out what's inside, but English is usually printed on the back side. King Tut's specializes in bulk food. Most of the spices and herbs are familiar to American kitchens, but others are not, like mlauchien leaves, curry, tarragon and dried red peppers. King Tut's also boasts of being the only grocery store in Lincoln that has imported cheese; it car ries more than 20 varieties from countries including Greece, Swit zerland, New Zealand and Yugo slavia and Scandinavia. Most of the cheese is made from sheep's milk. The five varieties of the white, sal tv feta cheese, how ever are made from goat's milk. "It's a beautiful cheese," bishay said. Other bulk items include eight varieties of Greek olives, dried figs, dates, raisins, nuts and rice. Bishay said he also sells butter by the pound. "I sell it, but at the same time I tell my customers that it's not good for them," he said with a smile. Transportation prices on im ported goods have risen since the war in the Persian Gulf, he said. Other factors such as adverse weather also can affect prices. There is a drought in Greece now, he said, and nobody can get good olives in stock. Bishay said he orders his mer chandise through suppliers in New Jersey, California and Chicago. "I buy Greek food from Greeks, and Middle Eastern food from people in the Middle East," he said. "I want to get the best qual ity." When the store first opened nine years ago, Bishay saicf about 80 percent of his customers were foreigners. Now, they are evenly split between foreigners ana Americans. "Americans are good people," he said. "They like to try different things." Tne best selling items in the store are the olives, cheeses, pita breads and olive oil, he said. Bishay first came to the United States in 1969 from Egypt to work as a bee farmer in Fairmont. He moved to Lincoln two years later and has worked at.the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an agri cultural research technician for the past 20 years. In the summertime, he keeps a bee hive in the window of the store and sells honey by the pou nd all year. The store hours are Monday through Friday 11:30 to 1 p.m. and 3 to 6:30 p.m./and Saturday from 10:30 to 6:30 p.m.