Being a very practical person, wise to the ways of world, I would responsibly advice my children to be doctors. Because, from evidence evaluated today, it does not matter much whether you are a good doctor or a hopeless one. You will still make a lot of money and have a comfortable living.Unfortunately the same cannot be said of your patients. But if you are a mediocre chocolatier, you are surely headed down the rocky road of life.
The good thing is everybody has an inborn talent waiting to blossom out to be great chefs or chocolatiers.Everyone loves to eat. Of course the majority get distracted and go into absurdities like nuclear physics. However if you are like my son, who keeps wondering and experimenting on how to make a chocolate cookie better, or his noodles more exciting or what happens if you add balsamic vinegar to rice, then it is very likely that he may see greatness in the culinary arts.And at far less cost me me than a degree in medicine or law.
Lately I have been covertly(because my wife sees him one day as a powerfully rich unscrupulous lawyer)encouraging him to pursue his curiosity in the culinary arts. I told him about Ferran Adria who began his culinary life as a dishwasher. Then a army cook. Then joined El Bulli and 18 months(I keep stressing 18 months, because my son is terribly impatient)later became head chef of El Bulli.
I told his about Heston Blumenthol and how this great man who after high school spend a week with Raymond Blanc and a few months with Marco Pierre White then lept into fame. I told my son that Blumenthal's mentor, Marco Pierre White started as a dishwasher at a the Hotel Saint George(which nobody has heard of) and then went on to establishments like the Box Tree, Le Gauroche and La Tante Clair. My son was very impressed as I rolled out these names in my best French.
The point I was trying to make is that what he needed was passion not a fearfully expensive education which undoubtedly I would have to slog for till my dying days to pay.
To be fair and balanced, as a parent must be, I told him also of Ramon Morato, probably the most famous choclatier of all. He did go to formal confectionery and chocolate schools like the National High School of Pastry, Confectionary, Ice Cream and Chocolate at Yssingeaux. I emphasised of course that Morato had won a scholarship to go there.
To bring him back from France I quoted Ferran Adria who said, "Ideal customers dont come to El Bulli to eat, they come for the experience." And that the secret of great cooking was the contrasts in flavour, temperature and texture." The study of which, I pointed out, was ever present in the street foods of Jakarta, Indonesia. Hundreds of such excellent establishments exist minutes away from our home.
I told my son about Heston Blumenthol's philosophy on food which was to discover and exploit the diner's perception of his expectations of types of food and surprise him or her out of their minds. That too can be studied intensively in Indonesia. After all, I reminded him that Indonesia was home to all ingredients and spices and herbs know to man. As well as all the textures and flavours and indeed temperatures. You are, I told my son, in the finest cooking environment in the world. It was these 17000 island archipelago that the world was supplied with spices for a thousand years or more. Here his vision could be as broad as he makes it. Never as blinkered as French cuisine which is over-rated, over-priced and mostly arrogance.Chic yes, but predictable.
Coming back to my son becoming a chocolatier I told him of the passion of Charles Barry who in 1842 travelled to Africa to look for beans. Of course he should have come to Indonesia but it no good moan about it now. Besides Africa was closer. But my son can find great cocoa beans throughout our islands. Cocoa plantations existed on Sulewesi, Java, Sumetra, Papua, Maluku,West Timor, Bali, Kalimantan, Nias and Flores. His backyard was rich with exciting beans.Bernard Callebaut actually treated his father's brewery turned chocolate factory as his playroom. And eventually learned all the secrets of making chocolate. A bit of apprenticeship with chocolaterie Menunier and off to Calgary, Canada where, much against all advice from snooty Europeans, he started his own thriving chocolate factories.
In Indonesia my son would find in most communities at least one home industry engaged in baking or chocolate or both.And because these homes dream of sending off their children to universities the motivation to successfully compete and innovate, throbs relentlessly. The country, without exaggeration is an backyard university campus in the craft of chocolate.The best best thing about it was the chocolate created was unique to the country and relevant to consumer needs. This country being the third largest consumer market in Asia, its an opportunity and challenge not to be sneezed.
Summing up, I told my son, he may not make as much money as a lousy doctor or an unscrupulous lawyer, nor afford a divorce(which he thinks is mandatory on a route to fame), but he may well be able to afford the Honda he seamed to take a fancy for. Unless of course he can reach the heights of Ramon Morato or Ferran Adria. Here, to be fair, I told him that El Bulli actually operates at a loss. They make their money on their books.
Showing posts with label airlines to indonesia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airlines to indonesia. Show all posts
Friday, 16 January 2009
Sunday, 23 November 2008
THE MYTH OF BELGIAN CHOCOLATES.
In some of our slick and expensive shopping malls Belgian chocolate boutiques are popping up.At this time of economic woes. At this time when imports are beginning to be very expensive as our currency seems rather smitten.At one outlet, at a very new mall, strangely called Creole, 50gm can set you back $5."Why?" you gasp, and the Sales person replies , "Because it is Belgian Chocolate." Now that really got my bristles up.
Of course I ate the three pralines I bought and it tasted just pretty expensive.Just that. New Tree is the only Belgium chocolate( now located in the US) I would cross the road for. The rest are boring. They are riding a reputation that was perhaps at it height in the 1960s. Since then there magnificent chocolatiers from the United States, Italy, one in the French Alps, Spain and one or two boastful ones from Venezuela. Surprising Australia's Cocoa Tree is coming up fast with some great chocolate. And here in Indonesia I know at least three housewives that make superb chocolate. I make some pretty good stuff too and at least they are good value for money.
The fact that Belgian chocolates are the best, is a myth. They are OK. But too expensive like all things in Belgium, including taxi fares, three star hotels(One shudders to think what the five starred charge), lunch, dinner, European Union and NATO headquarters.
Chocolates are all made through a particular process. It needs a careful selection of beans. It needs loving care and passion thoughout the process. Indeed it does not help one bit if you happen to be a Belgian. It helps if you are Spanish which means you invented the Tango and can probably dance the Fandango. That's the kind of vitality you need to make great chocolate. Have you ever seen a Belgian with vitality?Or one that can dance? Or for that matter a Belgian chocolate with a dash of verve? Remember this is the country where the Manneken-Pis is the national treasure.
Here in Indonesia we have the greatest collect on of cocoa beans in the world. There are at least 400,000 small holding cocoa plantations. Spread over 17,000 islands that revel in conditions that cocoa beans thrive on. The finest coffee also comes from these islands. And all the world's known spices. Plus our history in cocoa goes back at least 300 years. Here are also some of the best cocoa processors and manufacturers in the world.
But the Belgian Chocolate myth is so strong that we still have among us incredibly naive people who suscrible to belief in this myth. Break away today and take that Delicious adventurous journey to the real world of chocolate.
Of course I ate the three pralines I bought and it tasted just pretty expensive.Just that. New Tree is the only Belgium chocolate( now located in the US) I would cross the road for. The rest are boring. They are riding a reputation that was perhaps at it height in the 1960s. Since then there magnificent chocolatiers from the United States, Italy, one in the French Alps, Spain and one or two boastful ones from Venezuela. Surprising Australia's Cocoa Tree is coming up fast with some great chocolate. And here in Indonesia I know at least three housewives that make superb chocolate. I make some pretty good stuff too and at least they are good value for money.
The fact that Belgian chocolates are the best, is a myth. They are OK. But too expensive like all things in Belgium, including taxi fares, three star hotels(One shudders to think what the five starred charge), lunch, dinner, European Union and NATO headquarters.
Chocolates are all made through a particular process. It needs a careful selection of beans. It needs loving care and passion thoughout the process. Indeed it does not help one bit if you happen to be a Belgian. It helps if you are Spanish which means you invented the Tango and can probably dance the Fandango. That's the kind of vitality you need to make great chocolate. Have you ever seen a Belgian with vitality?Or one that can dance? Or for that matter a Belgian chocolate with a dash of verve? Remember this is the country where the Manneken-Pis is the national treasure.
Here in Indonesia we have the greatest collect on of cocoa beans in the world. There are at least 400,000 small holding cocoa plantations. Spread over 17,000 islands that revel in conditions that cocoa beans thrive on. The finest coffee also comes from these islands. And all the world's known spices. Plus our history in cocoa goes back at least 300 years. Here are also some of the best cocoa processors and manufacturers in the world.
But the Belgian Chocolate myth is so strong that we still have among us incredibly naive people who suscrible to belief in this myth. Break away today and take that Delicious adventurous journey to the real world of chocolate.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
IS IT SAFE TO GO LOOKING FOR COCOA BEANS IN INDONESIA?
I had five queries from nervous chocolatiers. This one kind of sums up the thoughts conveyed:"I hear so much about safety issues about Indonesia. In fact till recently our government had issued a travel warning about visiting Indonesia. Is it really safe to go searching around for beans in places like those you mentioned, Papua, Ternate,Bacan, Java.."
Recently I had an exuberant and enthusiastic visitor,a young chef, a Scot, Glen McIntyre(or something close. He had a surname pronounced different from the way it was spelled)who worked for the Four Seasons. On his arrival,in Jakarta, all he wanted to do was to see, and possibly experience, as much Indonesian food as possible.
There is Italian, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Argentine(I am not making this up),Arabian, Dutch, Malaysian, Indian, Singaporean and even Russian food on Jakarta's main street. And miles of chocolate too.But no Indonesian food worth mentioning.
So Glen and I plunged into the back lanes and alleys of Jakarta where food from nearly all of the inhabited 17,000 islands of this archipelago,was being busily prepared, cooked and consumed enthusiastically. In our forays into the deep, sometimes dark, alleyways and byways we did everything the Personal Security Advisor beseeched us not to do.
We made our ourselves conspicuous, we carried a lot of cash(none of the establishment we were interested in accepted credit cards)and arrogantly waved it under noses, we bumped into people who looked sinister, we flirted with giggling women, we went into really dark places, into place conscientiously developed for pick-pockets,we walked, we picked fights by bargaining outrageously,we asked rude questions. We emerged unscathed after a week.
I took Glen to the mountains of Central Java, where my wife has the immensely good fortune to come from. We walked into houses, most were unlocked, dined with occupants, carried a lot of cash and flashed it shamelessly around, took dangerous mini-vans for transport,abused the drivers, went out in the pitch dark, sang rude rugby songs and argued with a policeman. We emerged unscathed after four days. Glen had collected books of notes on Indonesian food.Persumably he is putting it into good use in Scotland or elsewhere.
The fact is Indonesia is safe.Don't listen to your Governments. Honestly what do they know? Look at the mess we faced this September alone. Don't listen, for heaven's sake to Dick Cheney. The best authority to ask is INTERPOL or a missionary.
If you asked INTERPOL they would tell you,that per 10,000 capita, in Homicide, Indonesia is 4 times safer than Australia, 14 times safer than the UK and 6 times safer than the US. Taking Rape incidents, Indonesia is 18 times safer than Australia, 12 times safer that the UK and 32 times safer than the US. Assault, Indonesia is 170 times safer than Australia, 30 times safer than the UK and 89 times safer than the US. We are far behind these countries in embezzlements, but catching up I am proud to say.
Another good source to check out safety in remote parts, where cocoa is grown, is with missionaries. I asked a very petite nun called Sister Godlive(I am not making this up) who lived in the Muluku for years. She has actually been to Becan and Ternate. I asked her if there were many murders in these parts. She said, "I haven't heard really." Are there any gun related violence?"Oh no" she replied, "Gun ownership is against the law." Are there any thefts?"Oh yes. It is sad but people are often stealing chickens."
It is absolutely safe to visit Indonesia. In fact it might be a good place to really get some peace and quiet.
Recently I had an exuberant and enthusiastic visitor,a young chef, a Scot, Glen McIntyre(or something close. He had a surname pronounced different from the way it was spelled)who worked for the Four Seasons. On his arrival,in Jakarta, all he wanted to do was to see, and possibly experience, as much Indonesian food as possible.
There is Italian, French, German, Indian, Chinese, Argentine(I am not making this up),Arabian, Dutch, Malaysian, Indian, Singaporean and even Russian food on Jakarta's main street. And miles of chocolate too.But no Indonesian food worth mentioning.
So Glen and I plunged into the back lanes and alleys of Jakarta where food from nearly all of the inhabited 17,000 islands of this archipelago,was being busily prepared, cooked and consumed enthusiastically. In our forays into the deep, sometimes dark, alleyways and byways we did everything the Personal Security Advisor beseeched us not to do.
We made our ourselves conspicuous, we carried a lot of cash(none of the establishment we were interested in accepted credit cards)and arrogantly waved it under noses, we bumped into people who looked sinister, we flirted with giggling women, we went into really dark places, into place conscientiously developed for pick-pockets,we walked, we picked fights by bargaining outrageously,we asked rude questions. We emerged unscathed after a week.
I took Glen to the mountains of Central Java, where my wife has the immensely good fortune to come from. We walked into houses, most were unlocked, dined with occupants, carried a lot of cash and flashed it shamelessly around, took dangerous mini-vans for transport,abused the drivers, went out in the pitch dark, sang rude rugby songs and argued with a policeman. We emerged unscathed after four days. Glen had collected books of notes on Indonesian food.Persumably he is putting it into good use in Scotland or elsewhere.
The fact is Indonesia is safe.Don't listen to your Governments. Honestly what do they know? Look at the mess we faced this September alone. Don't listen, for heaven's sake to Dick Cheney. The best authority to ask is INTERPOL or a missionary.
If you asked INTERPOL they would tell you,that per 10,000 capita, in Homicide, Indonesia is 4 times safer than Australia, 14 times safer than the UK and 6 times safer than the US. Taking Rape incidents, Indonesia is 18 times safer than Australia, 12 times safer that the UK and 32 times safer than the US. Assault, Indonesia is 170 times safer than Australia, 30 times safer than the UK and 89 times safer than the US. We are far behind these countries in embezzlements, but catching up I am proud to say.
Another good source to check out safety in remote parts, where cocoa is grown, is with missionaries. I asked a very petite nun called Sister Godlive(I am not making this up) who lived in the Muluku for years. She has actually been to Becan and Ternate. I asked her if there were many murders in these parts. She said, "I haven't heard really." Are there any gun related violence?"Oh no" she replied, "Gun ownership is against the law." Are there any thefts?"Oh yes. It is sad but people are often stealing chickens."
It is absolutely safe to visit Indonesia. In fact it might be a good place to really get some peace and quiet.
Monday, 15 September 2008
NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO VISIT INDONESIA.
Most travel savvy people will strongly advice you not to visit this archipelago between now and mid-October.This is very misguided advice.
Between now and 30 September, 20million Indonesians will be on the move. Overseas Indonesians will fly in from almost anywhere in the world, even the unlikeliest of places like Des Moines,Mbabane,Talling and Perivolia.We do get around, you know. All internal Indonesia airlines, railways, buses, taxis, motorcycle taxis will be full booked to carry people working in the coastal areas to the interiors. A staggeringly vast exodus to meet their husbands, wives,siblings, children, parents and others to celebrate Idil Fitri together. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in the world, would you be able witness anything like this. Would you dare miss this? Would you ever forgive yourself for missing this very emotionally charged exodus atmosphere and the swelling your heart?I don't know about you but it brings tears to my eyes.
It is still Ramadan now when all Muslims in Indonesia fast from sunrise to sunset. They will still be observing the fast when they travel in hot and crowded buses, in trains and say no(gratefully)to the stale airline snack boxes.
About 3million travel home to their villages on motorbikes, often over distances over 300 hot and dusty kilometers on the island of Java. Many carry their families with them. Two million or so go bumper-to-bumper by car. The roads understandably are clogged from start to end. The buses jerk on fitfully. The last time it happened in history, but not in such large numbers, was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Thanks to modern logistics our people will not wander about lost. There will also be many miracles on the way. Nearly all will arrive safely at their destinations and celebrate Idil Fitri.
Right now all the potential travellers are busy shopping for gifts for the relatives back home and gifts to exchange and distribute to whole villages.Generosity, forgiveness and goodwill are all an essential part of this festive period. Supermarkets report a magnificent increase in multi-pack chocolate wafers, chocolate biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Carrefour estimates that their chocolate and snacks sales will increase by over 60% during this period over the corresponding period and category of an average month in the first half. That's no small change considering their expected turnover of some Rp8.5 trillion in 2008.
Some 36 airlines travel to Indonesia. If you leave now you will make it on time. How you get around to the rest of the country, once you get to Jakarta depends on your ingenuity. Over here, believe me, nothing is really impossible. The best way is of course to hire a motorbike taxi. There will still be some cruising around forlorn in an almost empty Jakarta. They will be delighted to take you anywhere.You can actually tour the countryside and witness the on going exodus safely.
Jakarta, is a city I love at the busiest of times. When roads are packed with APVs, BMWs and on on. Plus weaving millions of motorbikes, a horse cart or two, and some food and other types of hand carts. But after the exodus,the peace that descends is equally as fascinating. Resident expatriates are stupefied by this extraordinary atmosphere. Instead of roller skating on the main street or other things that resident expatriates should do, they sat stunned and stayed home watching the whole thing on Metro TV.
If you visit, Jakarta will be a lovely place to walk about. No motorbikes will brush past you on the pavements, all the pickpockets would have left, leaving only some sad bankers who have to keep the economy moving. There wont be any queues at ATMs, Supermarket counters, you wont have jostle for space with your tray at the magnificent food courts and you can enjoy the cool luxury of your own emptied,generously personalised theatres showing the latest of Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of the other coastal cities will also be partially emptied and it will be a good opportunity to do a lot of peaceful walking around. During the four days or so around Idil Fitri, which actuall falls on the 1st and 2nd of October, airline, rail and bus transportation is quite easy to obtain.
Around the 5th of October the reverse exodus from the interior to the coast begings again.You can watch and welcome the happy and somewhat dusty and exhausted returnees before returning to Finland or wherever you had come from. Do visit us.
Between now and 30 September, 20million Indonesians will be on the move. Overseas Indonesians will fly in from almost anywhere in the world, even the unlikeliest of places like Des Moines,Mbabane,Talling and Perivolia.We do get around, you know. All internal Indonesia airlines, railways, buses, taxis, motorcycle taxis will be full booked to carry people working in the coastal areas to the interiors. A staggeringly vast exodus to meet their husbands, wives,siblings, children, parents and others to celebrate Idil Fitri together. Nowhere, absolutely nowhere in the world, would you be able witness anything like this. Would you dare miss this? Would you ever forgive yourself for missing this very emotionally charged exodus atmosphere and the swelling your heart?I don't know about you but it brings tears to my eyes.
It is still Ramadan now when all Muslims in Indonesia fast from sunrise to sunset. They will still be observing the fast when they travel in hot and crowded buses, in trains and say no(gratefully)to the stale airline snack boxes.
About 3million travel home to their villages on motorbikes, often over distances over 300 hot and dusty kilometers on the island of Java. Many carry their families with them. Two million or so go bumper-to-bumper by car. The roads understandably are clogged from start to end. The buses jerk on fitfully. The last time it happened in history, but not in such large numbers, was when Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Thanks to modern logistics our people will not wander about lost. There will also be many miracles on the way. Nearly all will arrive safely at their destinations and celebrate Idil Fitri.
Right now all the potential travellers are busy shopping for gifts for the relatives back home and gifts to exchange and distribute to whole villages.Generosity, forgiveness and goodwill are all an essential part of this festive period. Supermarkets report a magnificent increase in multi-pack chocolate wafers, chocolate biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Carrefour estimates that their chocolate and snacks sales will increase by over 60% during this period over the corresponding period and category of an average month in the first half. That's no small change considering their expected turnover of some Rp8.5 trillion in 2008.
Some 36 airlines travel to Indonesia. If you leave now you will make it on time. How you get around to the rest of the country, once you get to Jakarta depends on your ingenuity. Over here, believe me, nothing is really impossible. The best way is of course to hire a motorbike taxi. There will still be some cruising around forlorn in an almost empty Jakarta. They will be delighted to take you anywhere.You can actually tour the countryside and witness the on going exodus safely.
Jakarta, is a city I love at the busiest of times. When roads are packed with APVs, BMWs and on on. Plus weaving millions of motorbikes, a horse cart or two, and some food and other types of hand carts. But after the exodus,the peace that descends is equally as fascinating. Resident expatriates are stupefied by this extraordinary atmosphere. Instead of roller skating on the main street or other things that resident expatriates should do, they sat stunned and stayed home watching the whole thing on Metro TV.
If you visit, Jakarta will be a lovely place to walk about. No motorbikes will brush past you on the pavements, all the pickpockets would have left, leaving only some sad bankers who have to keep the economy moving. There wont be any queues at ATMs, Supermarket counters, you wont have jostle for space with your tray at the magnificent food courts and you can enjoy the cool luxury of your own emptied,generously personalised theatres showing the latest of Hollywood blockbusters.
Many of the other coastal cities will also be partially emptied and it will be a good opportunity to do a lot of peaceful walking around. During the four days or so around Idil Fitri, which actuall falls on the 1st and 2nd of October, airline, rail and bus transportation is quite easy to obtain.
Around the 5th of October the reverse exodus from the interior to the coast begings again.You can watch and welcome the happy and somewhat dusty and exhausted returnees before returning to Finland or wherever you had come from. Do visit us.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
