Refined cuisine is often overlooked in typical college life. Sometimes the evolution from consuming meals named "wake-up", "dinner" and "Pizza Days" to eating ones called "breakfast," "lunch" and "dinner" comes only with age. But some students are looking to the Tufts Culinary Society, founded by freshman Manuel Guzman and sophomore Alix Boulud this past fall, for an alternative.
Both Guzman and Boulud have long nursed an interest in food. Boulud is the daughter of noted chef Daniel Boulud, and Guzman developed a passion for food while living in Paris with his parents and dining at quality French restaurants.
Each of the two had conceived the idea for the society independently. It was by chance that they ended up launching it together.
"I went to Joe Golia [director of the Office for Campus Life], and told him, 'We really need to create this. This is the one thing that's missing,'" Guzman said. "He [said], 'It's funny, someone came by yesterday and gave that same speech.' [Boulud] happened to go to my [high school.] The one thing she didn't want to do was the constitution, and I had it written. We decided to combine and be co-presidents."
After this serendipitous realization, the club hit the ground running. Their kickoff event was a lecture with Scott Haas, respected food journalist and head chef of Boston's own Legal Sea Foods.
"We had a very interesting discussion about prices in restaurants in New England. He examined the price of chicken in one fancy restaurant and calculated [why] it is so expensive. He [said] it's a little outrageous for restaurants to charge that much money, especially in a town that's mostly students," Guzman said. "It was definitely a success; we had 25 people."
In addition, the club has sponsored four free classes at the DrinkMaster Bartending School of Boston and has arranged for a $25 prix-fixe lunch at Legal Sea Foods on April 4. It is also considering organizing a smaller function at Redbones in Davis Square and has planned a hands-on workshop with Dave, the namesake of Dave's Fresh Pasta, who will teach 30 students how to make pasta from scratch.
Boulud hopes the Culinary Society will impart the universality of dining to its members.
"It's much more quality over quantity in Europe; here, it's much more focused on being quick. It kills the joy," she said. "You need to eat three meals a day for the rest of your life. You might as well enjoy it."
Stephanie Chin, a senior and executive board member of the society, also emphasized the universality of food.
"I think it's a good way for people to meet each other; it's a club that forces people to be together," she said. "This club is very open; food is universal ... At Tufts, we're so active about social issues; I think that carries to health."
Much of the Tufts student body has also been enthusiastic about these ideas.
"My favorite aspect of the club was the amount of interest that immediately arose from the student population. I was so proud of the Tufts students for taking this seriously; a lot of students e-mailed me with great ideas," Boulud said.
In every aspect of the society, Guzman has an inclusive outlook. He does not see the club as an exclusive place for aspiring chefs or food critics but as something for all students who simply like food.
"We take a holistic approach -- not only cooking, tasting, critiquing. If one day we want to cook, another day we want to critique, it can't really be separated," he said. "By not limiting ourselves to cooking; by not being the Cooking Club, ... [it] allows us to expand."
This all-encompassing approach has helped the club to recruit a diverse array of students.
"We get a lot of different, eclectic members," Guzman said. "You're going to get some random students who do not know how to cook but love eating food. Or you're going to get some crazy foodie buff who, whenever he has a minute, cooks in his dorm. Or you get these odd people who know nothing about cooking and are interested in the club."
Boulud was surprised by the variety of students who chose to join the club.
"I thought that it was going to be mostly international students," she said. "I had this impression that overseas, food is taken much more seriously. But I saw a lot of enthusiasm in the American students. A lot of people at Tufts watch the Food Network. I find [it] amazing that people in college would actually be interested in these kinds of things."
Chin echoed Boulud's surprise at the extent of Tufts students' knowledge of food.
"A lot of them are very knowledgeable about fine dining," she said. "I know what it's like to eat at a five-star restaurant. I was expecting people who were less attuned to that."
Despite its success, though, the project has also had its obstacles. But the group's leaders are actively looking for solutions.
"Finding space on campus is tough [because] we're a new club," Guzman said. "We've been prevented from using any space with a large enough kitchen able to accommodate people. There was a one-month experiment at Columbia [University] where they allowed students to cook in their kitchens. I thought that was a great idea, and I want to start discussions with Dining Services."
The club is also looking for new ways to carry out its larger goals.
"I [want to] foster a common interest in food culture," Guzman said. "We can talk about nutrition [and] food for athletes. All these aspects of food are part of our society. We're not about fancy, expensive food; we're about being inclusive and holistic when we're talking about food."
But in light of the eclectic approach, Guzman has not lost his own personal preferences.
"This will sound cliché, but I really like French food," he said. "Not because that's what everyone says, but [because] it's one of the most complex types ... In the Alps, it will be a very different style of cooking than in Paris. In Provence, it will be very Mediterranean."
Chin is less set on a particular type of food and thinks of the culinary arts as an adventure.
"When people ask me about travel, I say that I would want to go anywhere I haven't been," Chin said. "I also feel that way about food."
