Culinary Art Education Study Program, Faculty of Engineering (FE), Yogyakarta State University (YSU) held a cooking class with Chef Zulkarnine Bohari, a Teaching Expert of Department of Skill and Development, Ministry of Human Resource Malaysia (23-26 / 02). Within four days, the cooking class with Chef Zulkarnine was divided into four sessions, namely the scientific sharing on the first day, while the second day for the practice of cooking for Tapas and dessert; the third day for the practice of processing chicken, beef, seafood; and the last day was for Italian cuisine and Thai cuisine.
With the theme of Gastronomy and Fusion, Chef Zulkarnine shared his knowledge and experience in this scope with lecturers and students of Culinary Art Education, FE YSU both in presentation and in practice sessions.
Chef Zulkarnine explained the Fusion itself refers to a style of cooking affected by two or more regional styles. "Generally, it is certainly a blend of Asian style with European," explains the Chef who is also a coach and judge of Asean Skill Competition in this culinary field.
"The positive side of the Fusion, among other things, is to harmonize relations between countries in the form of appreciation and adaptation of every cuisines around the world," says Chef Zulkarnine.
"And the main element of the Fusion certainly is to combine styles and food ingredients from each country to obtain a healthy fusion cuisine" he stated.
"Meanwhile, gastronomy, commonly, is a science that studies the relationship between various components in the culinary culture in which food and beverages serve as a central axis focusing on the prime quality dishes (gourmet)," he added.
Later in the practice session, Chef Zulkarnine immediately gave direction to students to process food ingredients according to the recipe he gave previously. The students seemed to listen to the instructions seriously and followed the practice session passionately.
Azis, a Culinary Art student who followed the Italian and Thai Cuisine practice session, admitted that he was very pleased with the cooking class with expert from Malaysia. "He (Chef Zulkarnine) was very detailed, from material selection, processing, up to the plating. I remember when I got feedback on plating that the arrangement of food on the plate should not reflect any slightest racial element such as a cross or others, "said Azis.
But after a four-day workshop, Aziz claimed that he became increasingly optimistic that the potential and competence here (YSU) are not inferior to neighboring countries. "In terms of processing technique, taste and content of foods, we still win", close Azis. (haryo)