Chef Maira Nogueira de Paula Eduardo prepared the cafeteria meal of the month Oct. 28.

Maira, a Sodexo employee from Sao Paulo, Brazil, cooked at Pitt-Johnstown as part of a month-long college tour with the Global Chef Program.

“(Sodexo) exchanges chefs (from different countries) within the program,” she said.

Some of the other colleges she is to cook at are Drexel University in Philadelphia and the University at Albany in New York State.

Maira prepared Brazilian meals with ingredients such as rice, shrimp and chicken. Many of the dishes were topped with Brazilian sauces and spices.

Maira has been a chef for 10 years after being trained in California. She also trains chefs for Sodexo.

“She’s a brilliant, well-respected chef,” said Pitt-Johnstown Sodexo marketing coordinator Abalene Stull.

Pitt-Johnstown senior Nikki Huber said she enjoyed Maira’s chicken salad along with festive music.

“It made me want to salsa dance on tables,” she said.

Pitt-Johnstown sophomore Jess Belmonte said the school should feature cultural food more often.

“The (Brazilian) desserts were better than the normal desserts,” she said.