The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Malaysia gets the blue ribbon for cooking

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 05:17 PM PST

Ming Ho, general manager of Sunway Le Cordon Bleu... aiming to raise the bar in culinary arts studies. — Picture by Jack Ooi

PETALING JAYA, Jan 4 — While we are known as a nation of food lovers, Malaysia is not the first country you think of when it comes to an education in the culinary arts. For that, the storied Le Cordon Bleu still holds a special place in a quite crowded field of Swiss and other European institutions.

So when the partnership between Sunway University College and Le Cordon Bleu was announced last year, foodies (and those who want a career in the kitchen, of course) were buzzing with excitement.

Le Cordon Bleu, which means "The Blue Ribbon" in French, is a name synonymous with fine food and education. It is the world's largest hospitality education institution with 35 schools in five continents and this month Malaysia joins that distinguished rank. Most of the graduates have become celebrity chefs, opened Michelin-star restaurants and are internationally recognised.

Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia is the second Le Cordon Bleu institute established in South-East Asia after Thailand. It is a standalone institute, partnering with Sunway Education Group and Le Cordon Bleu Paris. I spoke to Ming Ho, general manager of Sunway Le Cordon Bleu, Institute of Culinary Arts on this important milestone in culinary arts education in Malaysia. So, why was Malaysia chosen by Le Cordon Bleu?

Practical sessions in the kitchen are an integral part of the course.

Ho says that Malaysia is the best hub in terms of getting students from all over South-East Asia because of the low cost of living. Another important factor to consider is also that it caters to a large Indonesian and local market as the institute does not feature any recipes with pork.

Dr Andre Contreau, president and CEO of Le Cordon Bleu International saw the opportunity of the infrastructure in Malaysia and felt that this strategic location is suitable to get a good mix of students from South-East Asia.

What Le Cordon Bleu Malaysia offers is a nine-month programme with three months of internship for both local and international students. In the programme, there are three terms, each spanning three months. At the end of each term, a certificate is given progressively until the end of the course.

There are two kinds of programmes offered, culinary arts in cuisine and culinary arts in pastry. Once the student graduates with the certification, he or she is internationally recognised in the culinary world and the certificate is the same as the one obtained in Le Cordon Bleu France as well as every Le Cordon Bleu institute in the world.

"We hope to raise the bar of culinary arts studies because the programme is very intensive. It is short, just nine months but the hours put in to learn when the chef is demonstrating the recipes and hands-on practical sessions totals to 540 hours. Any culinary school will not give you that kind of practical hours.

"We only have 16 stations maximum in the practice kitchen so they (the students) have their own stove, their own cutlery and so on. Chefs will come and guide them as they have observed from the demonstration classes," said Ho.

She explains that the challenges Le Cordon Bleu may face here is the discipline of young, aspiring chefs. Punctuality and attendance is taken very seriously in Le Cordon Bleu and this can be seen even in the institute in Bangkok.

The prestigious Le Cordon Bleu certificate.

If the student is late for 15 minutes six times in a row he is considered three days' absent. This can result in expulsion. The student can still continue the rest of the term but at the end of the term, he will not get a certificate.

Ho goes on to say that a lot of young people nowadays want a shortcut. When they graduate, they want to have a high position but they do not know that going through the programme is hard work.

"If you want to be a chef you have to succumb to the discipline and you have to be serious in your career path. If you want to be a good chef you will take heat from all the other professionals who have already been long in the industry and must really know the game to teach you the right way," she added.

Le Cordon Bleu is from France, so people presume that the school only teaches French cuisine and nothing else. But according to Ho, it is delivering French techniques through French recipes in a way that students can create and innovate every recipe to their liking, style and culture.

She gave an example of when a Le Cordon Bleu chef was teaching how to make fish mousse. The chef taught the French recipe but in the delivery of the programme, he told the students to put in their style and culture such as spices like curry powder to make it taste local.

Officially classes for the year-long programme start this month but the structure and syllabus are streamlined with the rest of the Le Cordon Bleu institutes internationally. For more details, e-mail Sunway Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts at lecordonbleu@sunway.edu.my.

Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Jamie Oliver joins Paula Deen and Guy Fieri for ‘unhealthiest cookbooks’ of 2011

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 03:21 AM PST

Jamie Oliver joins Paula Deen and Guy Fieri for 'unhealthiest cookbooks' of 2011

Jamie Oliver's 'Meals in Minutes' has been called one of the unhealthiest cookbooks of 2011. — AFP pic

NEW YORK, Jan 3 — Healthy eating crusader Jamie Oliver has been lambasted by a US physicians' group for writing what they called one of the worst cookbooks of 2011.

Jamie Oliver's Meals in Minutes, released last fall, was criticised namely for its Meatball Sandwich recipe, which contains more fat than a Big Mac and more than double the calories, cholesterol, sodium and saturated fat, said the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The recipe calls for ground beef, pancetta, Jarlsberg cheese and ciabatta loaves.

It's a harsh blow for the British chef and TV personality, who has been at the forefront of several aggressive campaigns and public policy movements pushing families to eat healthier meals, including series like Jamie's School Dinners in the UK and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution in the US.

Oliver's offending meatball sandwich recipe has landed him in the company of known butter and fat-bomb recipe writers like Southern food matriarch Paula Deen, who makes no apologies for deep frying cheesecake, and meat-loving chef Guy Fieri.

A serving of Hot Buffalo Wings (three wings) from Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible contains 910 calories and 85gm of fat, while Guy Fieri Food's Jambalaya Sandwich with bacon, Andouille and smoked sausages could help raise the risk of colon cancer, the group says.

Other nutritional offenders include The Neelys' Celebration Cookbook for their saturated fat-laden Bourbon Bread Pudding and The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook for focusing on meat-based recipes. — AFP-Relaxnews

Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Selasa, 3 Januari 2012