Brown is the New White Rice: Multicultural Cuisine at Olympic Games

With its vibrant ornamental gate, traditional garden and Shanghai-style hanging lamps, the suburb of Richmond, an enclave outside of Vancouver, lays claim to the title of Chinatown. Recent immigrants have come in waves from Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan changing the culinary makeup of the city just in time for the Olympics.

When it comes to feeding athletes from 85 countries, rice seems to be the glue that holds Vancouver’s multicultural cuisine together. The two Olympic villages in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., will be preparing an array of ethnic foods that will be available to fuel athletes. According to Nejat Sarp, who will oversee every aspect of food in the Winter Game’s mess halls, depending on the athletes’ cultural expectations, rice will come in many forms. The Japanese will want their white rice steamed, the Chinese will go for fried rice, the Koreans will like it spicy and Middle Eastern athletes will prefer the basmati variety. For the American athletes, they go for brown rice.

These rice-loving, ethnic hot spots will be steaming and frying throughout the opening and closing ceremonies:

The Noodle Box: A South-East Asian noodle bar with spicy curries and rice-noodles for slurping. (1867 West 4th Ave Vancouver BC V6J 1M3)





Posh Restaurant: A home-grown restaurant serving Japanese Sukiyaki, a form of Hot Pot, with bubbling broth and veggies, tofu, noodles and seafood. (101-1788 West Broadway Vancouver, BC)







Mongolie Grill: Create your own stir-fry by choosing a protein, fresh vegetable and starch combo. (201-4295 Blackcomb Way Whistler, BC)







Regardless of your rice likes, it’s nice to know that there is no need to stray from healthy foods and cultural roots while enjoying the winter games.

Photo: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1143/1469663407_768109e634_o.jpg