Event combines international dishes, culture

By Traci White

Published: October 12, 2008

Buñuelos from Mexico, bacalhau com natas from Portugal, and schwarzwälder kirschtorte from Germany were only a small sample of the delicious and diverse dishes served Saturday night at the International Night at the Sacred Heart Catholic School.

Cuisine from France, Italy, Germany, the Philippines, Mexico, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland and the United States filled the colorful tables in the gymnasium of the school, the majority of the dishes prepared by members of the congregation of Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

The free event has been held for six years, and regularly draws a crowd of nearly 300 people.

“We’ve had so many the last couple of years that we’ve had to put tables out in the hall to seat everyone,” said Chris Tyburski, coordinator of the dinner for the past four years.

“Father Charles (Breindel) brought it up that we have so many ethnicities in our church,” Tyburski said. “We come together every October to celebrate our ethnic backgrounds.”

Tyburski, Terry Dziedziak and Mary Jane Uitto created the spread for the Polish table, complete with perogies, stuffed cabbage prepared from Tyburski’s mother’s recipe, and boleslawiec, decorative Polish painted eggs.

Alice Garcia described her Portuguese dishes to the Rev. Breindel as he made his way around the room. Garcia’s Portuguese cream of cod, bacalhau com natas, was a rich baked cod dish with potatoes, cod and heavy cream, and she encouraged Briendel to try her favorite dish. Breindel said he didn’t have enough room on his plate, but looked forward to filling a second one.

“It’s an excuse to get a whole new plate and start again,” he said.

“I was raised in a German-speaking community so I am partial to the German and Polish tables, but I enjoy the Filipino, and the Portuguese and the Mexican,” Breindel trailed off with a laugh.

Each table prepared several entrees and desserts from traditional national recipes.

“My favorite table is the Philippines, because the dishes are so different from anything else here,” Tyburski said.

Many of the countries were represented by families who had been united across national borders. Chuck Waggoner manned the German table, and he met his wife Jolanda in Germany when he was in the Army. The couple has been married for 35 years.

Liam Mcnamee, a 3-year-old in a massive tobbogan that read “Ecuador,” ate the icing off a cupcake at the Ecuadorian table his mother, Yenny Mcnamee, created. Mcnamee is originally from the Ecuadorian city of Euayaquil, and now lives in Danville with her husband and family.

The attendees were not limited to members of the congregation.

“I’m from College Park Baptist Church, but I came just for this,” Mary Tucker said as she enjoyed a plate filled with food from many of the tables.

Tyburski made the rounds in the gym several times to ensure everyone was enjoying themselves before eating any of the food herself.

“I’ll eventually get a plate,” she said.