One Way to Destress From Midterms? Making Sushi

Five students from the Center for Food and Hospitality Management created, and ate, their own sushi at a special demonstration.
Five students from the Center for Food and Hospitality Management created, and ate, their own sushi at a special demonstration.

Drexel is no stranger to offering special workshops and events to help ease the pain and stress related to midterms and finals weeks — this year alone, there have been playdates with therapy dogs, late-night hours at on-campus restaurants and a well-stocked relaxation room.

During week five of winter term — also known as the dreaded midterms week — the Center for Food and Hospitality Management offered a new, and delicious, way for its students to take a break and relax with a special interactive sushi-making workshop.

Hosted by Kristine Mulhorn, PhD, teaching professor and department chair of the Health Administration Department in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, the sushi demo workshop was held in one of the Center’s state-of-the-art professional kitchens. Five undergraduate and graduate students stopped by and made their own sushi rolls after receiving instruction from Mulhorn, who has experience working in Japan and whose husband is Japanese.

“I thought it would be a nice break for students,” said Mulhorn, who taught them how to make rolls, and hand rolls, and talked about her experiences eating and working in Japan.

To make their own customizable rolls, the students chose from authentic sushi rice, nori, avocado, carrot, cucumbers, traditionally prepared shiitake mushrooms (which Mulhorn’s husband made), a soy sauce-infused omelet and imitation crab. Sesame seeds and various soy sauces were also available as finishing touches.

This type of relaxed, informal cooking demonstration is the first of its kind, but could be expanded for future, additional workshops inside the Center available for students as well as faculty and staff.