Cake.

No other food evokes a universal feeling of tradition and celebration. Birthdays have them, everyone gathers around the birthday celebrant as he blows out the candles on top of them. They’re the centerpiece at weddings, the newlyweds partake in the conventional ritual of cutting the cake.

While most accounts agree that the modern cake evolved from bread, the origin of the word “cake” itself is still hotly debated. In her book “Cake: A Global History,” Nicola Humble says, “Even the linguistic derivation of the word ‘cake’ is uncertain, with some sources assuming it derives from the Old Norse ‘kaka’ and others claiming it as a Latin loan word via Ancient British or Anglo-Saxon.”

One thing is certain: they’re a staple on special occasions. But we don’t have to wait for one to get them. Click here and join The Union in a cake hunt around El Camino College. The cakes are diverse, with influences from France to Taiwan to Japan and our very own, South Bay. Bring your friends and “Let them eat cake!”