Month: April 2017

OTTIMMO—The lessons on Asian culinary arts was ended with Japanese food. For the whole week, the students have learned to cook Ramen, Yakisoba and Sushi.

 

For the last few weeks, second semester students have learned various Asian dishes, from Indian, Korean, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Malaysian and Indonesian food. After finishing the lessons on Japanese food, next week the students will learn more on Latin American cuisine.

 

As a review to the Asian cuisine lessons, Chef Jerry said that overall, the students have understood the character of Asian cuisine. Accuracy in using spices and techniques are necessary for cooking Asian food.

 

“The students have succeeded in mastering Asian cuisine with satisfactory result. They had practiced well on how to use spices and learned the techniques seriously,” stated Chef Jerry, one of the instructors in Ottimmo International’s kitchen.

 

After learning more on Japanese and other Asian cuisine, Chef Jerry reminded them to keep practicing and expand their knowledge on Asian culinary arts as the way to cook them is very different from cooking other continents.

 

“To make the lessons stick on their mind, students must also learn by themselves and expand their knowledge on it. If there is a problem during their practice at home, students can ask the chefs and we will provide guidance later,” said Chef Jerry.

 

Japanese food for example, there are some techniques which they should be more careful, such as rolling sushi. It looks easy, but it is not as easy as it looks. Therefore, students must practice them again outside the class.

OTTIMMO – Chef as a profession is not only about the skill of cooking in the kitchen. More than that, a chef needs to have other skills to support their performance in the kitchen. In Ottimmo International Mastergourmet Academy, the students do not only learn to cook various dishes in the world. They also learn skills they need to be professional chefs.

 

One of those skills is communication. The skill is learned in a special subject in class. Communication skill plays a crucial role for chefs as they will not work alone later on, but they will work in a team as well.

 

“Professional chefs must be able to communicate well. Not only to communicate well with partners in the kitchen, but also in a wider context. They must be a team player and also capable of coordinating their own team. Excellent communication is necessary,” explained Tri Ambarwatie Msi, the lecturer of communication skill.

 

Chef profession, added Tri, is not an individual job which does not involve interaction. Culinary business development demands a chef to be skillful, especially when they decide to choose entrepreneurship for their career choice.

 

“When you work in a company, chefs must be able to work with their partners. Meanwhile, the chefs who have their own business must be able to do more. They have to manage their business and great communication skill is needed in their relation with internal and external people,” she elaborated.

 

Communication skill class covers interpersonal communication, public speaking and understanding other global language cultures. Students are also taught to handle conflicts professionally.

 

“Conflicts can happen at work, with work partners, subordinates or our boss. It is important for chefs who have their own business to resolve the conflict among their subordinates. The chefs must also have great leadership skill,” Tri said.

 

Based on international standards, Communication skill class in Ottimmo International Mastergourmet Academy is presented in English. It makes the students ready to interact not only Indonesian but also people from other countries. (*)

OTTIMMO — Few weeks ago Ottimmo International welcomed a special guest: Chef Widjiono Purnomo, CFBE, CEC, or known as Chef Yono. Chef Yono is the founder of Yono’s Scholarship Foundation, a foundation founded in New York that concerns about education in culinary academy. He came to Indonesia to scout young talents in culinary to be given scholarship.

Chef Yono, who owns two restaurants in Albany district, New York, believes in the power of dreams. He ever worked in dutch cruise for years, owning a restaurant but got burnt, almost bankrupt, but he bounced back ever since and came into this phase of life.

“Doesn’t matter where and when is your start. What matters the most is your finish line,” said Yono who grew up in East Jakarta before joining Sekolah Tinggi Pariwisata, Bandung, back in 1971.

After graduated from the school, Chef Yono then joined Holland American Line for seven years. In the cruise he only came home once in six of eight months. Such experience gave him a broad knowledge about the world. “When I am in the cruise, my mind traveled. Seeking and wondering what would I do in the future. I was dreaming about chances,” Yono said.

Yono then met the chances in New York. He stopped from the cruise and started a new life with his wife, a US citizen who he met in the ship. He started from scratch in the down town of New York then took class in culinary academy to gain knowledge about managing a restaurants and making great dishes. (Agung Putu Iskandar)

 

OTTIMMO— Next week lessons in the kitchen of Ottimmo International are still about Asian Culinary. There are some dishes they need to learn to cook for the whole week, Indian, Indonesian and Malaysian food.

 

Early next week, three Indian dishes will be presented to them, Chapati, Chicken Rice Pilaf and Cikpea-Veggie Curry. Special for Chapati and Veggie Curry, they are usually served together, as bread and curry.

 

To cook Indian food, according to Chef Arya, one of the instructors of Ottimmo International, the students should pay more attention to the use of spices and the curry concentration. Both aspects should be perfect to serve perfect Indian food.

 

“Sometimes, the curry is too watery or too thick. It is not good as it should be perfect. The use of spices should also be carefully managed as Indian and other Asian food is rich in spices,” said Chef Arya.

 

During the midweek, Indonesian and Malaysian food will be practiced. For the Indonesian food, Singgang Roasted Chicken is chosen and the Malaysian food is about Penang Asam Laksa.

 

Why chose Singgang Roasted Chicken? “We intentionally present unpopular dish, so the students can expand their knowledge on Indonesian food. If we presented Rendang or Soto, it would have been too common,” said Chef Arya. (kukuh setyawan)

OTTIMMO—Contestants from SMA Petra 1 dominated the second session of Ottimmo International Cooking Competition 2017 on Saturday, April 8, 2017. Two teams from the school have won the first and the second place of the cooking competition.

The team at the First Place from SMA Petra 1, winning Rp 10 million prize money were   Alvaro, Timothy and Nicholas while at the Second Place, there were Airine, Zaneta and Zelena. They won Rp 7.5 million prize money.

The third place winner was a team of Deanna, Magdalena and Zarina from SMA Petra 2. They got Rp 5 million prize money from the competition.  There were also Fourth place winning Rp4 million, from SMA Santa Maria (Felicia, Clifford and Nicholas), and SMA Gloria 2 (Jevon, Sherina and Vanessa) as the Fifth place winner.

This Cooking Competition 2017 held in Ottimmo International was the second session out of four sessions and the total prize money is Rp91 million. The participants failed in the second sessions can still participate for the third session which will be held in May 2017.

For the winners, they can participate again next year. “The results were quite satisfying, but there are still important aspects the participants need to pay more attention. One of them is cleanliness, it is very important in cooking,” explained Chef Zaldy Iskandar, Head of the Judges in this Cooking Competition.

Chef Zaldy added, “Some participants excel in savor and performance, but they cannot be the winner as they lack cleanliness. It is a good experience for all participants, that there are many aspects they need to consider as they cook.”

The judges observed some aspects from the competition, cleanliness, time management, choice of ingredients, creativity, plate presentation and savor.  Some participants could not finish the dish in 90 minutes, so they did not have time to clean their stations.

Even though the ingredients had been decided during technical meeting a week before, they participants still had difficulties in cooking their dishes in Ottimmo International’s kitchen. “We had rehearsed before. We thought that lamb would still smell when we cook it. But fortunately it didn’t happen as we know the trick,” said Sherina from SMA Gloria 2.(kukuh setyawan)

OTTIMMO—Besides having lessons in the kitchen, students of OTTIMMO International are also assigned to projects training their skills to organize events. One of the events was Easter Luncheon which was held on Friday, April 7, in the campus of OTTIMMO International.

As many as 44 students divided into four groups, serving dishes for 22 expatriates specially invited for the event. Those four group have their own tasks, preparing appetizers, main course, desserts, service and beverages.

The dishes served were Cup of Savory (Appetizer), Chicken Scotch Egg, Rice Beef Burger, Tortilla Statue (Main Course), Cheese Cake (Dessert) while for the beverages, the guest can choose between Mint Paradise, coffee or tea.

Overall, this event ran well but some things were in need of improvements. “This Easter Luncheon is to train the students to organize an event well. They are expected to perform with great teamwork to achieve successful event,” stated Chef Zaldy Iskandar, Director of OTTIMMO International.

A project like Easter Luncheon, according to Chef Zaldy, will also affect the students final marks later, so this kind of event demands excellent planning and execution. “After the event, we reviewed their weaknesses and strengths,” said Chef Zaldy.

Tommy Terisno, one of the students who took part in Easter Luncheon admitted that his team still makes some mistakes in that event. “It’s better for us to make mistakes now than later in the real events. We learned a lot from this and hopefully from this event we understand the importance of detailed preparation,” said Tommy.

Meanwhile, Isabel Gomes, one of the guests, said that she had a great time involved in the event. She really enjoyed the meal served by Ottimmo’s students. “I really like cup of savory,” he stated. Overall, she enjoyed the food. “But I think the cup of savory could use a little sourness,” she said.

OTTIMMO—Ottimmo International Martergourmet Academyis organizing a competition to show senior high school students’ skills in the kitchen. This Saturday, April 8, there will be 12 schools taking parts in Ottimmo International Cooking Competition.

Cooking Competition is the second session out of four sessions to be held from March to June. Each session is limited to 12 participating schools so the competition in Ottimmo International’s kitchen can be optimal as it is adjusted with the kitchen capacity.

Most of the participating senior high schools are from Surabaya and they send a group of three students. They will be challenged to cook with ingredients determined by drawing during the technical meeting on Saturday, April 1.

“Each group will cook with ingredients containing protein and carbohydrate. They are free to choose their ingredients and prepare them into any dishes they want. It is limited only in 90 minutes,” said Theresia Christina, Ottimmo International marketing staff as well as the committee of Cooking Competition.

Tere, how she is addressed, added that the vegetables are also prepared for the participants to complement their dishes. They are free to bring their own ingredients as long as they are not cooked or prepared yet.

“In the protein category, chicken, shrimps, beef, dory, lamb and eels are prepared while for the carbohydrate, potatoes, rice, cassava, corn, and spaghetti are prepared. The participants have drawn their choices, for instance SMA Petra 1 got rice and eels,” she explained.

The participants already know what they are going to cook, but there will be a surprise rule during the competition. It will be a tough challenge for the participants.

The judging will be based on some aspects, taste, plating, creativity, time management, ingredients and cleanliness. “So the participants won’t only cook and then it’s finished. They are expected to clean their cooking stations,” added Tere. (kukuh setyawan)

OTTIMMO—After four weeks learning to cook European dishes, students of Ottimmo International Mastergourmet Academy presented with a different challenge. As of this week, they are introduced with Asian dishes which are very different from the European ones, either from how they are prepared or served.

The first dishes presented to the second semester students are Vietnamese and Thai’s, Vietnamese Spring Rolls-Cha Gio and Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaves. Both selected as they are of special menu in each country.

According to Chef Chef Jerry, one of the instructors in Ottimmo International’s kitchen, there are two important things the students need to be more careful. First, the technique used to tie the pandan leaves so they will work perfectly as a wrap.

This technique of tying leaves determines the outlook of the chicken during frying or when it is served. Second, how to carefully roll the rice paper to make Spring Rolls.  Some water should be applied as they the rice paper is quite sticky.

“I saw that the students can learn quickly on how to roll and tie the leaves. With only a lesson, they can already do it well. The kitchen class today is very satisfactory,” said Chef Jerry.

After the Vietnamese and Thai dishes, this midweek the students will learn to cook Korean dish, followed with Chinese, Indonesian and other countries with their own uniqueness and challenges.

A particularly significant development has taken place in the culinary business for the last few years. Restaurants, cafes, hotels until online-based food outlets have an open competition in this business.

Therefore, the demand for the culinary business basis is increasing as well. The most important basis of this business is the chef. But, we must admit that the culinary business development has not been proportional to the availability of quality chefs. It is difficult to find a cooking school or campus which educates excellent chefs.

In Indonesia, there are only cooking courses which do not have capability to produce all-round chefs. Most of them only produce graduates with limited skills, only capable of turning recipes into dishes and cakes and other skills which disregard the nutrition, plate presentation, creativity to create new dishes. They do not have a sense of business as well.

Young cooking enthusiasts must go abroad and spend great deal of money to be experts in international culinary arts since there are only limited culinary education institutions in Indonesia. Ironically, there are a lot of job vacancies in culinary business filled by foreign chefs. In the end, the supply of quality chefs does not meet the demand. As a matter of fact, those chefs often move from one restaurant to another which will be unfavorable for the culinary business itself.

In response to this concern, OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet offers the solution. The academy is established by international standards to be the center of trainings in culinary arts for young talents so they can achieve their dreams to be professional and world class chefs. OTTIMMO prepare the graduates with soft skill integrated with academic business international atmosphere.

OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy tries to produce brilliant chefs with the best quality. not merely chefs looking for jobs but we push them to be innovative entrepreneurs in culinary industry. OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy graduates are ready to meet the culinary business increasing demand.

The rapid development of tourism industry, followed with increasing number of tourists will also boost the hotel and restaurant business. Therefore, Indonesia needs to produce a lot of culinary experts to support that dynamic development and OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy will rise to the challenge.

Our country has enormous wealth in culinary arts, from the West to the East and it is famous for its delicious dishes. OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy will focus on Indonesian culinary in its curriculum so it can be a reference for foreign students who want to learn Indonesian culinary arts.

We should never forget that Indonesia is the Coffee Heaven on Earth. High quality and famous coffee is produced from Aceh to Papua. OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy will also broaden the students’ knowledge of coffee across Indonesia extensively, from the characters to its development to be various kinds of drinks such espresso, latte, capuccino, frapuccino and many others.

OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy will always develops. Besides improving our quality, we have great plans to expand our network in other big cities in Indonesia. OTTIMMO must be within reach of those future chefs across the country. *

By: Danu Rianto (Founder of OTTIMMO International)

sekolah kuliner surabaya , sekolah kuliner , sekolah masak surabaya , sekolah masak , akademi kuliner surabaya , akademi kuliner , sekolah chef

“It takes five minutes to look like a chef, but it takes a lifetime to be the real chef”. World class chefs are not moulded in a
short time, but a great deal of process, strong will and determination to work hard is needed.
OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy has global missions, not only to educate chefs so they gain excellent competence and skills, but also to be chefs with moral and ethical codes, strong character, sensitivity to surroundings and a sense of responsibility.
In the academy, the students will learn a lot of things which support their career in the professional as world. The instructors do not make students prepare dishes from recipes, but they also embrace underlying philosophy of culinary arts.
There are a lot of aspects taught to students, creativity, originality, choice of ingredients, flavor combinations,
time management, plate presentation, until how the students plan their menu carefully and in details.
OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy does not teach the students to cook directly. They are obliged to understand what they need to do in the kitchen through theoretical preparation in the first semester. Therefore, the students will be able to understand everything about the kitchen and ready for practical work in the next semester.
Students of OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy are given a set of skills different from other cooks.
They can translate and develop their own menu as well as calculate the cost needed to prepare the dishes.
I realized that culinary education in Indonesia cannot be provided with only national standards. But OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet has an extensive curriculum equal with the Diploma III (three year program) degree, referring to international curriculum. The goal of the academy is to be the renowned culinary education trending in Asia even the world.
Indonesians do not have to go to neighbouring Asian countries or other countries to get prestigious culinary education. OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy is on a par with other culinary schools in Asian, European or even American countries.
From the observations and experiences I gained abroad, the standards of education set in OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy are designed to be similar. Located in Citraland, the campus and the curriculum of his academy are of international standards. The instructional language used is English.
Students are not only taught to cook and bake but also to learn about English, Nutrition and other courses. They are also taught to be entrepreneurs who can start their own culinary businesses. OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy really concerns with its education to produce world class chefs.
The students of OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy are aimed to have global scale mindset, not only in Indonesia. The academy also has premium facilities, from the kitchen, pastry set, cooking utensils to the ingredients are of international standards.
Another essential aspect is the quality of the instructors. They are not only chefs with real-world experience but they also have skills and dedication to teach and assist students in their studies.
The learning method of OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy is currently the best in Indonesia. The academy always make efforts to improve the quality and quantity of the students and to assist them to be professional chefs in order to meet the demand of growing culinary industry.*
By : Zaldy Iskandar (Director of OTTIMMO International MasterGourmet Academy)

sekolah kuliner surabaya , sekolah kuliner , sekolah masak surabaya , sekolah masak , akademi kuliner surabaya , akademi kuliner , sekolah chef