Only Ivy League Or Similar Need Stir Fry

Columbia sophomores may be our country’s future leaders, but they still don’t yet know their way around the kitchen:

The period after freshman year, when students’ mandatory meal plans have ended and their survival culinary skills have yet to kick in, is an awkward one. Rather than purchase the expensive, but convenient meals in John Jay-averaging between $9.20 to $11.50-many students opt out and attempt to feed themselves. How well this works depends on students’ ingenuity.

Ben Heller CC ’09 sustains himself on his own cooking and, sometimes, on cartons of cheese poofs “for days on end.” Periodically, however, he will take all of his food and make a giant stir-fry.

“My last experiment consisted of chili, pasta with meat sauce, chicken teriyaki, four eggs or so, some cheddar cheese, basil (lots of basil), and some chocolate-flavored peanut butter,” he said. Heller claims the concoction turned out well despite its haphazard origins.

For some, eating is more a question of avoiding starvation than staying healthy. “I eat a lot of cereal instead of actual food. Cereal and Ramen,” said Winston Nguyen, CC ’09. Nguyen says that if students don’t know how to cook, it’s a good idea for them to find other people who can and make a meal together. “Everyone together can figure out what they’re doing,” he said.