[Nichi Pandey]: Hello, and welcome to the final episode of “Nibbling with Nichi,” a podcast that provides bite-sized pieces of culinary knowledge to make your Columbia experience just a little more delicious.

In this episode, Nichi will be pulling out a nonstick pan for the first time in the series to teach listeners how to make a simple quesadilla and how to properly mix cooking fats.

Still in the realm of no-heat cooking, Nichi explains the foundational elements for a tasty guacamole. He also shares his favorite neighborhood grocery stores and an important lesson he learned from Samin Nosrat’s cookbook, “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking”.

Without turning on the stove, Nichi walks listeners through an easy recipe, a tuna-mayo rice bowl. He talks about developing a pantry of frequently used items, the versatility of tinned fish, and the importance of learning to cook intuitively rather than with strict recipes.

As the first episode in a cooking series, Nichi introduces listeners to the podcast, the types of recipes they will learn over the coming weeks, and the essential equipment they will need in order to properly execute the coming recipes.

For the first time in Columbia Culinary Society history, the group will be hosting Columbia Restaurant Week, allowing Columbia students to experience Morningside Heights’ best eateries at up to a 25 percent discount.

Culinary winds have drifted to Columbia’s campus in recent years, with hundreds of students joining clubs dedicated to the culinary arts like the Columbia Culinary Society. Since its inception last year, Gourmand, another culinary-focused student group, has already attracted nearly 200 students through its digital platforms, supper club events, and other special hospitality-focused projects.

In 1998, a few Columbia students who appreciated the art of good food and drink banded together to form the Columbia Culinary Society. Dedicated to “la dolce vita,” the society held cheese and chocolate tastings, tart-making classes, and dining trips to some of New York City’s finest restaurants.

“At age six, more than twenty years ago, scrolling through the book spines [at a bookstore], my young eyes were distracted by a small black and white television set in the corner,” actress Morgan Saylor, GS ’23, wrote. “‘How do I get inside those stories?’” she asked her mother.

“Girls can’t do that,” Marin Alsop’s violin teacher told her at the age of nine, when she first expressed interest in becoming a conductor.