UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Food television personality and author Simon Majumdar will visit Penn State for the second time on March 25-26 to headline several on-campus events.
Majumdar first visited Penn State in March 2024 and participated in several on-campus events. Last year’s program featuring Majumdar earned Penn State’s residential dining staff a gold award and grand prize in “Outreach & Education Program of the Year” at the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) National Conference in July.
“The dining program at Penn State is excellent,” Majumdar said. “The choice of ingredients and the quality of food produced are as good as any fantastic restaurant. As for the chefs, they were just as amazing as the food. I had a truly wonderful time (last year) both working with them during my own cooking demonstrations and watching them compete using challenging ingredients during the competition.”
Majumdar will deliver a keynote speech on March 25 to School of Hospitality Management students and staff at the Kern Building, followed immediately after by a meet and greet and book signing. The following day, Majumdar will lead a pair of lunchtime cooking demos at Pollock Commons and emcee a culinary challenge featuring several Penn State chefs at 5:30 p.m. at Redifer Commons in the South Food District. Ticket information for the keynote speech and cooking demos will be shared this week. Follow @pennstatedining on Instagram for more details on reserving tickets.
“We are excited to welcome Simon back to Penn State,” said Jim Meinecke, director of residential dining. “Last year’s events were wonderful, and we can’t wait for his visit in March.”
During his cooking demos, Majumdar will prepare a pair of unique meals that show how dishes can move around the world. The first is bunny chow, which gained popularity in South Africa when indentured laborers from India serving Great Britain relocated there and used local ingredients to recreate a dish from their homeland. The second is gambas pil pil, a tapas dish that originated in North Africa before moving to Spain.
“While the history of these dishes is fascinating, I also love cooking them, and I know people love tasting them,” Majumdar said. “I cannot wait to share these dishes with the Penn State community.”
Majumdar, originally from Rotherham, England, is a world-renowned broadcaster, food writer, speaker, author and cook who has dedicated the second half of his time on this planet to fulfill his ambition to “Go Everywhere, Eat Everything.” It is a journey that has taken him to all 50 states and dozens of countries around the world.