Final Blog: Group Presentation Feedback

On March 7, 2023, which was our last day of class, Professor Vesna invited a few students from her Design Media Arts class to present their final projects to us which were related to food and hox zodiac. The first presentation was by Charles and Rachel, the second presentation was by Colette and Peyton, and the final presentation was by Aileen, Junie and Stella. I liked all three presentations because I got to learn about cultures that are different from my own, the foods from those cultures and why the presenters chose specific food items, as well as how they tied it all back to hox zodiac. 

From the first presentation, I loved how Charles (Chinese/Vietnamese) and Rachel (Korean) put foods from their own culture in their cuisine. I liked how they were able to create a feast for their friends to enjoy and teach them about how the ingredients in the foods connected back to the hox zodiac and to celebrating the lunar new year. In regards to their table setting for their feast, I thought it was beautiful and creative of them to include moss underneath their glass tabletop since the element of the dragon was earth and additionally to add candles to the table to represent the snake’s element of fire. They decided to specifically focus on these 2 animals for their feast since Charles is a dragon and Rachel is a snake. Another thing I liked about the table setting was how they incorporated orchids on the left side of the table and hyacinths on the right side on the table which were inspired by their Zodiac Signs, so the orchids represented the snake and the hyacinth represented the dragon. In terms of plating, I liked the attention to detail in terms of how Rachel placed her food plates on the side where the orchids were placed since she is a snake and Charles placed his food plates on the side where the hyacinths were placed since he was a dragon. Rachel for her dishes decided to make a Korean omelet, buckwheat noodles, and barley rice, since egg yolk, wheat, and barley are important ingredients to the snake. I was more than grateful that Rachel was able to bring buckwheat noodles for us to try. They were very delicious! Charles for his dishes made a cucumber corn salad, peanut butter baked tofu since corn and tofu are very important ingredients for the dragon. I loved how they also included a dress code for their feast so red for the snakes and brown for the dragons and shared stories among themselves while they were feasting. It was my favorite presentation of the day. It was well thought out with a very beautiful representation of their cultures. There is something powerful about bringing two cultures together.

From the second presentation, their presentation really focused on the cultural and historical significance of wheat, corn, and rice bread. I thought the title of their presentation was really creative, “The Rise of Bread” since bread is the basis of human existence. I liked how they connected bread with religion too since when you usually think of food, you don’t really think about religion, but I liked how they went outside of the box. They stated how some religions/faiths see bread as a symbol for the body of Christ which I found really intriguing since there is a lot of meaning in history and significance behind bread. I liked how they included pictures in their presentation of the way they made the wheat, rice, and cornbread and how they brought the three types of bread to class for us to try. It was not my favorite taste, but I’m proud of the way this group took the challenge to make something as hard as bread and hoped they had fun making this bread for us. It was a very unique presentation. I have a greater appreciation for bread now after this presentation and the bread-making process.

For the last presentation, I thought the title of their presentation was unique, “Muhkjah”, which meant let’s eat in Korean slang. I liked how they wanted us to eat kimchi as they were presenting. From this presentation I learned that kimchi is the most popular side dish in all of Korea and that there are hundreds of different types of kimchi which I really wasn’t aware of. I also learned that kimchi goes through lacto-fermentation, giving it a sour flavor. I was more than grateful that this group was able to bring kimchi for us to try. Unfortunately I did not like it, but I’m glad I tried it. 

I’m very glad that I decided to take this class, listen to very informative presentations, and taste foods I had never tried before from different cultures. Thank you Professor Vesna for sharing your knowledge with us in regards to hox zodiac. 

 
 
 

Hox Zodiac: