The Los Angeles Harbor College Culinary Arts Program includes an international series of dinners where the students prepare the cuisine of a single country or region.
We were there one night this week to explore the cuisine of Azerbaijan as were Los Angeles consulate officials of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The student wait staff were all dressed in the costumes of that country and the menu explored the cuisine with a salad of vegetables with  a chicken liver pate.  Then two soups, the first a beef meatball and the second Hedik, multi bean, hearty grain soup.
The intermezzo was Axerbaycan Uzum serbeti, a grape sorbet.  The entree, lamb shank with saffron rice, grilled eggplant, peppers and tomatoes.
Our dessert was Baklava, filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and rosewater syrup as well as spiced poached fig in white wine with lavender ice cream.
Directing the outstanding culinary arts program at Harbor College is Chef Giovanni Delrosario.
These international dinners are held each semester and are available to people not connected to the college.
We are happy and proud to state that the Southern California Restaurant Writers with their Doris Crandall Scholarship Fund includes Harbor College in the list of community colleges the program supports.