NEWS

APU has designated 2023 as its “Second Opening,” and as part of this celebration the university is holding a series of events. As part of this, the university held the “C-1 Grand-Prix Final”, an event to determine the most delicious spice curry at APU, in the campus cafeteria on Saturday, July 1, 2023. This event aimed to play a role in rejuvenating on-campus interactions that have been diluted during the pandemic by using spice curry, which has become popular nationwide. The university put togeter this event to foster interaction between students as well as with the local community through opportunities such as having booths at events, further exposing local residents to APU’s diversity, and to enable participating students, faculty, and staff to come togeter as one. This is the first time since the opening of APU that a university-wide food competition event of this kind has been held.

The four teams who made it to the finals each came up with and cooked their own unique curry. About 300 students, faculty, and staff gathered in the cafeteria on the day of the competition to serve as judges. After tasting the curries of the four finalists, the judges chose the curry that they felt was the most delicious and resonated with the concept and cast their votes. Resident assistants (RAs) served as moderators during the event, which included performances by student groups Wadaiko Raku and Wings, and performances by student singers and rappers livened up the venue.

It was a very close competition, but results of the voting revealed the Vietnamese-themed “Habitat Curry” with chicken and sweet potatoes as the winner of the “C-1 Curry Grand Prix”. The vegetarian “Kizuna Curry” received the second most votes, winning the Judges’ Special Award. The two winning teams will have booths at the Oita Broadcasting System (OBS) 70th anniversary event to be held in front of JR Oita Station on September 23-24. They will each offer a dish that will give people in Oita Prefecture a taste of the diversity of APU.

Judging Criteria – Best Concept and Most Enticing

In early June, a panel of 11 judges consisting of students, faculty, and staff on campus conducted a document review, selecting 4 finalists from a pool of 14 student team applications. The document review was based on a 10-point scale in four categories and these criteria were used to judge the entries:

1. Whether the idea or concept expresses the diversity that students feel at APU to the people of Oita
2. Whether the team consists of students from more than one country or region
3. Whether the curry stimulates people’s appetite
4. Whether the recipe can be reproduced at a food stall, and whether it uses ingredients available in Japan

See a video of the judging here: https://youtu.be/SSu_r3_0j9o

Each entry wowed the judges with their creative ideas and designs.
The following four teams were selected from the document screening

The Four Finalists

● “Enjoy Oita” Dal Curry

An authentic lentil curry made by students with experience running a curry restaurant, using seasonal vegetables and broth made of shiitake mushrooms from Oita Prefecture to express a feeling of gratitude to Oita, where they have spent their four years in university.

● Kizuna Curry

An inclusive vegetarian curry using vegetables grown in Oita Prefecture and abundantly sprinkled with the flavors of multinational spices available in Japan, this dish symbolizes the blending of multiple cultures, while allowing anyone to eat without worrying about religious or dietary restrictions.

● Habitat Curry

Habitat, a student group that volunteers in overseas construction projects and wants to provide an opportunity for people to learn about poverty and other social issues, built a Vietnamese-themed chicken and sweet potato dish, with fish sauce and lemon providing a special touch, making it a refreshing curry for summer.

● Karei Curry

Using karei (flounder), almonds, coconut milk, and the unique Japanese spice wasabi, Karei Curry is made by a team of Bangladeshi-led students who want everyone to know that “Indian curries are not the only South Asian curries!”