Go Team UMass: A Recipe for the World’s Longest California Roll
I hope you are enjoying the warm summer weather. For the last several weeks, I have been taking a break from the blog to enjoy the weather and spend time with my family. Even so, I missed not writing about UMass Dining. As we start up a new school year, I am eager to get back to it—especially because I have an amazing upcoming event to tell you about.
I love to compete. My staff knows it and my family knows it. For me, it is not only about winning: You win some and lose some, but it’s the effort alone that builds excitement and provides an opportunity for fun.
Even so, there’s nothing like taking home a prize. The competition that I’m about to tell you about has the makings of a historic event (we’ve already registered it with the World Records Academy). It’s the creation of the world’s longest California roll. We are aiming for 400 feet, which would surpass 330 feet, the record set by UC Berkeley in November 2009. And we’re doing it with sushi experts Jet Tila, a chef and expert in pan-Asian Cooking (he’s also appeared on the Food Network) and Hiroko Shimbo, a cookbook author and authority on Japanese cuisine. So you can see that we are serious about it, but we can only get it done with your help! (See details in the “recipe” below.)
UMass students love sushi. Each day, more than 2000 sushi rolls are served at our DCs. I would not be surprised if UMass students eat more sushi than any other school in the nation. At the very least, they’d be in the top 10. With this in mind, our motive for organizing the event is to build awareness around the subject of sustainability at UMass. To construct the roll, we will source sustainable seafood products and local vegetables. And we’ll do it at the Green Welcome Barbecue on Labor Day, an event for new students, staff, and guests that will draw 6,000-8,000 people.
So here it is: the recipe for the World’s Largest California Roll
Details:
The event will take place on September 6 starting at 4:45pm at the Haigis Mall – Fine Art area.
Yield: 400 feet of sushi
Ingredients:
650 sheets of nori (seaweed)
200 pounds of rice
200 pounds of surimi,
100 pounds of avocado
100 pounds of cucumber
2 pounds of sesame seeds
5 gallons of soy sauce
6 pounds of wasabi.
Instructions:
1. Find 300 volunteers from the UMass community to participate in the competition. (If you would like to join us, and I hope you will, please sign up at www.umassroll.com as soon as possible. Shish!…Wally the Green Monster will join us too. )
2. Roll the ingredients with volunteers, Jet Tila, and Hiroko Shimbo.
3. Make history happen.
This is Ken Toong. Thank you for keeping UMass Dining at the top.
Contact Ken at ktoong@mail.aux.umass.edu
You can follow Ken Toong on Twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/KenToong