Babson students get some home cooking
Seafood gumbo, noodle kugel, and spinach pie can be more than just savory dishes. They can be an antidote to an undergraduate's homesickness.
So Babson College in Wellesley offers a program in which school chefs whip up recipes submitted by students' parents.
Stan Park of Sodexho Campus Services, the operations manager for the college dining hall, created ''Home Sweet Home" about eight years ago after hearing from students who asked why cafeteria food doesn't taste like home cooking.
In January, he asks parents for ideas, and their recipes are cooked during a week in April.
''We make up item identifiers for each of the items and we put the student's name on it," said Park. ''The students don't know this is going on. . . So when [they] walk in and see their name and 'macaroni and cheese,' they flip out."
Parents sometimes are quite enthusiastic. One mother sent in a recipe for an Indian dish that called for a particular curry -- and made sure he didn't cut corners, he said.
''She actually FedExed the spice to me just to make sure I made it the right way," said Park.
Katherine Platt, an associate professor of cultural anthropology at the college, said the program was ''really fun because it gives kids a way of being known in a different way. . . . It's a way of unfolding some of their own background and being able to tell where they're from."
Food is a huge part of anyone's identity, which becomes all the more important when someone leaves home, said Platt, who studies food as it relates to history, religion, and culture.
Rebecca Soon, a 20-year-old junior, said she's a big fan of the dining hall. The vegan menu is particularly important, she said, to the school's multicultural population.
''We have a lot of international students here," said Soon, who is from Hawaii.
''A lot of them are from countries and religions, especially in Southeast Asia, [where] they don't eat meat, so they often go to the vegan line."
The dining hall also serves as a social haven, where students will hang out for hours at a stretch. It's called ''Trim sitting," after the name of the dining hall, said Soon. But if the food weren't tasty, the dining hall wouldn't be such a hot spot.
''If the food wasn't good, then that would be a problem," she said.
Park said students sometimes bring in recipes for the vegan station, too, which is growing in popularity. Strict vegans avoid not just meat, but all animal products, including milk and eggs.
''What we're finding is that students who are not necessarily vegan or vegetarian will get it as a healthy alternative," said Park.
Babson was recognized in the national magazine CosmoGIRL! this month for having the best college chow, largely because of the program.
The magazine's editor-in-chief, Susan Schulz, said she was impressed with Babson's effort to make students feel at home as well as the school's vegan offerings.
Although she doesn't think anyone would pick a school based on its culinary repertoire, she does think it could be a consideration once a student has their list narrowed down.
Given the widespread problems with obesity and eating disorders, said Schulz, there's a greater focus on making sure students get good nutrition.
''Kids are much more independent, but they're also much more coddled in many ways. When they go away, they have literally never taken care of themselves before," she said.
Lisa Kocian can be reached at 508-820-4231 or by e-mail at lkocian@globe.com. 
