Day: October 8, 2019

OTTIMMO — Ottimmo International has a commitment to become an open college for anyone. The best culinary academy in Indonesia students come from various backgrounds and areas.

Now Ottimmo is more open with the acceptance of students with special needs, in accordance with the mandate of Pendidikan Tinggi (Dikti). Starting in the academic year 2019-2020 there are already some students with special needs who are studying by taking Diploma 3.

In accordance with Government Law number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, inclusive education for persons with special needs must be applied in university. This system adopts an international education system, that is, there is no difference for people with disabilities.

Ottimmo International Director Zaldy Iskandar said, Ottimmo is very open to anyone from anywhere, including students with special needs. The instructors at Ottimmo, both chefs and lecturers, and also the staffs, will do their best to provide assistance to them.

“The modern education system no longer distinguishes students with special needs. They are also entitled to vocational education, including Ottimmo International culinary academy. “However, before they enrol, we need to see whether the students with special needs are able to accept lecture material, especially in the kitchen,” explained Zaldy Iskandar.

Zaldy admitted, the challenge of accepting students with special needs was clearly not light, especially Ottimmo is a campus with more practical lecture material. But he was very optimistic that the chefs and teachers could provide assistance very well.

“During the last accreditation visitation by Dikti, it was also emphasized that Ottimmo be open to students with special needs. We are happy because starting in the academic year 2019-2020 there are already students with special needs who study at Ottimmo. Of course I hope they will succeed in the culinary field,” he said.*

OTTIMMO – For the first time, Ottimmo International joined the 2019 International Community Service Program (ICSP). In collaboration with Petra Christian University (UK) and the Al Wali Foundation from the Netherlands, ICSP 2019 was held in Dusun Parang, Parang Village, Kediri Regency.

In the event which was held from July 16, 2019 to August 5, 2019, Ottimmo International was involved in various activities there. These activities include Dental Care for kindergarten, elementary school students and public, Nutrition Class, Cooking Demonstration, Water Projects, Waste Projects, Improvement of Facilities in the village and others.

ICSP 2019 participants were 15 dentist students from the Netherlands, six students from UK Petra, and three from Ottimmo International. They lived in the homes of Dusun Parang residents during ICSP, so they could feel the real village atmosphere.

Ottimmo sent three representatives, Reyhan Dhira representing students, Yasin Karyono as student affairs representative, and Kukuh Setyawan from public relations. It is expected that for ICSP 2020 student involvement will increase later.

“For the first involvement in this ICSP, Ottimmo can only send one student. In the future, we hope that more students will be involved because this program is very important and gives students good experience in community service,” explained Yasin Karyono, Ottimmo International Student Affairs.

Special activities held by Ottimmo are the Nutrition Class and Cooking Demo. “We provide an understanding of nutrition and processed food by using ingredients that are easily found in Parang,” explained Heni Adianata, a lecturer at Ottimmo International.

Meanwhile, Al Wali Foundation representative Cigdem Demir said that his party was very happy with Ottimmo’s involvement in the 2019 ICSP. “The existence of Ottimmo as a culinary academy provides a new atmosphere for ICSP, especially with programs related to food and nutrition which are very important for rural communities,” said Cigdem.*

OTTIMMO — The Coffee Class held by Ottimmo this year is different from previous years. This time the students were taken directly to the coffee processing center, the Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute (Puslitkoka) in Jember, East Java, on 29 and 30 September 2019.

For two days the 5th semester students were in Jember specifically to learn about coffee. On the first day, students get The History of Coffee given by Ir. Cahya Ismayadi MSc, reviewing all about coffee from history, plantation to processing.

On the second day, students headed to Puslitkoka which is about 30 minutes from the Aston Hotel, where they stayed. In the Puslitkoka area, in the first session the students did a Coffee Tasting which was to try the aroma and taste of various types of coffee, both Arabica and Robusta.

After that, the group headed for the coffee processing area, starting with the release of coffee beans, drying, and sorting the types of coffee according to the size of the seeds. At that location there is also the manufacture of coffee processing equipment and various products processed by Puslitkoka.

“We bring students here so that they understand how coffee is processed from the start to be served. So, they know that the processing of coffee goes through a rather long process, “explained Gilbert Hadiwirawan, assistant chef who accompanied students in Jember.

After learning the history of coffee and witnessing coffee processing, Ottimmo students get Coffee Brewing session. Specifically this session was given in the Ottimmo International campus, because the equipment in campus itself was very complete for Coffee Brewing.

In recent years, coffee is indeed very popular and a lot of cafes or coffee shops have sprung up. That is why learning about coffee is very important at Ottimmo, because however coffee cannot be separated from the culinary business today.

Coffee expert Cahya Ismayadi said, “Learning coffee is not enough just once or twice, but it takes a long time. This is because scientifically, coffee has a very broad scope, from planting, processing, and serving.”*