Sebagai salah satu rempah menjadi incaran bangsa Eropa, khasiat kapulaga membuatnya lebih dari sekedar bahan bumbu masak biasa. Di edisi kali ini, PASSION coba menelaah (mengupas) manfaat mewah buah mungil tersebut.

Kendati anda sudah cukup familiar dengan hidangan seperti kari, gulai, atau soto, belum tentu mengenal buah kapulaga yang menjadi salah satu bahan dasar utamanya. Ya, namanya memang terdengar cukup ‘asing’ (dan keren). Kapulaga merupakan salah satu rempah ternama Asia Tenggara yang mulai diperkenalkan di Indonesia sejak tahun 1986 silam sebagai komoditi eskpor. Orang Inggris mengenal buah mungil berwarna pucat ini sebagai cardamom, dan menjulukinya grain of paradise´atau  ‘bulir surgawi’. Selain di Indonesia, kapulaga juga dapat tumbuh subur di sejumlah negara Asia Tenggara, seperti  Thailand, Kamboja, Malaysia Barat dan Filipina.

We met Novan Satrianto, Director of PT. Sedana Panen Sejahtera, the holding company for Sorghum Foods Indonesia in a collaboration event held by Kaum.We’re very interested when Lisa Virgiano, Kaum’s Brand Director, said, “sorghum is a weird plant, ignore it and it will grow healthy, but when you treat it well, it withers.” Moreover, when we tasted some menus using sorghum in Kaum, we thought, in addition to become solution for national food security, sorghum might be a new “toy” for the progressive chefs who are very into local ingredients. It’s time for Indonesia to be reintroduced to the healthy, forgotten plant, that has been with us for centuries.

How did you get introduced to sorghum?

In 2011, I knew sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) from BPPT (Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology). In my whole life, it’s the first time I heard the name “sorghum”. In the beginning, I was interested in developing sorghum into bio energy for fuel or coal industry. At that time, we did some research in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) at the foot of Mountain Tambora, using 25 varieties from all over the world to get the best one.

Along the way, we realize the bio energy business require huge amount of investment, at the very least, we need Rp 1 trillion. It’s a business for giant scale companies or government. However, from the lab, we knew that the sugar content in sorghum was quite high, finally we divert our focus from bio energy into sugar production, working together with P3GI (The Center of Indonesia’s Sugar Farm Research). We want to know about sorghum’s derivative products.

Wait, does the plant originally come from Indonesia?

Most probably, no, literature said that sorghum was an African plant. Few hundred years ago, there was African expansion, and they brought along the sorghum to be planted here. In Indonesia, sorghum became staple food for quite a while before it was forgotten and replaced with rice.

What do you mean forgotten?

I just quote, but from what I’ve read, by the end of 80’s in President Soeharto’s era, we had rice nationalization. In elementary school, you might remember we learned about staple foods such as sago or corn, but since rice nationalization, everyone only knew rice. As a result, some local foods, like sorghum, are forgotten.

However, if you trace it back, we had local sorghum names that are used as region names, for example Buleleng in North Bali, or Sabu Raijua in East Nusa Tenggara, it’s believed that both names literally means sorghum. Not to mention, the local sorghum names such as cantel, pari corn, even most West Javanese knew sorghum as “gandum”, not the imported wheat. Then, I came across interesting article that stated that sorghum was on one of Borobudur Temple’s reliefs. It’s very interesting to me.

When I met old household assistant in barren areas, such as Mount Kidul, he asked me, “what are you gonna do with this food?” Because, for them, sorghum is reserve food when they have rice scarcity, basically it’s poor man’s food. In some regions, sorghum is people’s savior from famine because of crop failure. When I said I’m going to plant sorghum, local farmers don’t have a clue, but when it’s harvest time, they said, “we know it as pari corn or cantel corn!” Always been like that! Meanwhile in West Nusa Tenggara, the locals know it as latu.

What is the first sorghum product you produce?

We started to have farm in Madura and Pasuruan, when it’s harvest time, we produce sorghum syrup, or also known as the clear, golden liquid sugar. To test the market, we only produced 1,5 tons of sorghum syrups, and they were all sold out.

We started to have testimonials from people with stomach ulcer who feel better, to pregnant women who lost their morning sickness. In literature, that’s the benefits of consuming sorghum, but until today, we don’t want to market the health benefits like medicine, because it’s a different market. We’re food company, not pharmaceutical.

From the lab, we knew that sorghum’s sucrose content is quite high, meanwhile crystal sugar can only be formed by sucrose. We asked P3GI to make crystal sugar. Those who know sugar will be apathetic, they know there’s no way we can crystalize sorghum. However, we insisted, and in the end, perhaps we’re the first company in the world that’s able to produce crystal sugar from sorghum, feel free to check it up on Google. After that, we started to believe on sorghum potential and encouraged to produce crystal sugar.

I heard sorghum is a very tough plant.

In 2015, we started to plant sorghum in 1-hectare area in Jombang on October-November. It was the peak of the dry season and local farmers said, “this Jakarta kid has gone nuts, they’re playing farmer!” It’s impossible for farmers to plant anything in that moment, it’s a waste of time and energy.

Sorghum’s critical point is from 2 weeks to 1 month, where we should monitor its sprouting, growth, the water and fertilizer supply. After that, the treatment is very very easy, our sorghums grow with very minimum maintenance and water. After all, sorghum grows in East Nusa Tenggara, a region known as barren, it’s no longer land with stones, it’s stones with soil.

What are the other sorghum derivatives products you produce?

After syrup and crystal sugar, we started to make other products, such as soy sauce for people with special needs, such as auto immune disease, gluten intolerant, people with authism that are having a hard time metabolizing wheat. Without us knowing, the number of these people is significant, and they thanked us for offering safe food products that tastes just as good for them. We even have a Chinese restaurant who has soy sauce scarcity, and after looking for substitutes, they settle on our product.

We begin with sweet sorghum research, but in 2016, we started to focus in producing rice and flour from sorghum, because our competitors offer them in relatively high price. We’re also doing some research to produce cereal and instant porridge, but we haven’t released them yet.

You had many mission change, from producing bio energy to healthy food. However, in the beginning, why did you fixated on sorghum?

Based on my experience, it’s difficult to predict Indonesia’s climate. We had hard rain in dry season, vice versa. In the middle of such uncertainty, we can still grow sorghum. The plant has suffered drought to flood, if it’s rice or corn, you’d have crop failure. Sorghum’s ability to adapt is outstanding. In addition to gluten free, sorghum also has low GI (glycemic index) so it’s safe for those with blood sugar problems. Not to mention its great taste, these are the things that convince us since the beginning. Locals have known this crazy plant for a long time, we just develop and reintroduce it.

Perjalanan seorang karnivor untuk mencari daging kualitas biasanya akan berkutat seputar jenis sapi dan potongan steak favorit. Namun ketika seorang karnivor sejati telah menemukan wagyu BMS (Beef Marbling Standard) 12 rib eye favoritnya, what’s next? Adakah cara untuk mendapatkan rasa daging sapi yang lebih intens dan kompleks? Jawabannya adalah
dry-age.

Meski proses ini memakan waktu dan mahal (karena penyusutan berat dan proses trimming), dry-aged beef memberikan tekstur yang lebih lembut dan rasa yang luar biasa. Oleh sebab itu, tidak semua steak house menyediakan dry-aged beef. Anda ingin mencari steak house terbaik? Cari saja yang menyajikan dry-aged beef. Ketika Anda melihat daging sapi yang menggantung di dalam sebuah alat dry-age yang mirip etalase kaca, Anda tahu Anda berada di tempat yang tepat!

Proses aging pada daging sapi sebetulnya bukanlah hal baru. Daging sapi yang baru dipotong dari sapi hidup memiliki tekstur yang lebih alot, oleh sebab itu, hampir semua daging sapi mengalami proses aging selama beberapa hari. Kebanyakan proses aging dilakukan dengan cara membungkus daging dengan plastic wrap, proses ini dikenal dengan nama wet-aging. Proses ini berfungsi untuk membiarkan enzim yang ada dalam daging untuk melembutkan otot pada daging dan mengkonsentrasikan kolagen, sehingga menghasilkan aroma dan rasa daging yang lebih baik.

Jika Anda sekedar menginginkan tekstur yang lebih lembut, daging sapi mencapai kelembutan maksimum setelah proses aging selama 14 hari. Lebih dari itu, tekstur tidak banyak berubah, sementara rasa akan semakin intens karena kehilangan kadar air.

Pada proses dry-age, daging dibiarkan terekspos pada udara sehingga terjadi proses dehidrasi yang mampu mengkonsentrasikan rasa lebih jauh. Ini adalah proses yang lebih mahal, karena daging kehilangan kandungan air sehingga beratnya menyusut, dan bagian luar yang teroksidasi harus dibuang (trimming). Beberapa orang setuju bahwa proses ini memberikan rasa daging yang lebih intens, rasa nutty, dan aroma seperti blue cheese.

Bertempat di restoran Gourmet Garage; yang berfungsi sebagai ruang pameran bagi Perusahaan Distributor Makanan Lotus Enterprises, acara eksklusif ini dihadiri oleh 30+ anggota dari berbagai tempat kuliner bergengsi di seluruh Bali dan sekitarnya. Acara ini bertujuan untuk berbagi pengetahuan tentang proses ‘Dry-Aging’ dan pentingnya sumber bahan dasar yang baik.

Seminar pertama tentang Tokusen Wagyu dipandu oleh bapak Sugiman selaku Kepala Penjualan & Pemasaran JAPFA; salah satu perusahaan agri-pangan terbesar di Indonesia yang telah memproduksi protein hewani yang penting selama lebih dari tiga dekade. Tokusen adalah salah satu merek daging premium mereka yang menitikberatkan pada produksi wagyu berkualitas dari sapi lokal Indonesia. Tidak hanya besar dalam ukuran pertanian, teknologi canggih di balik proses perawatan dan produksi mereka sangat mengesankan, karena faktanya tidak banyak peternakan di dunia yang mampu menghasilkan wagyu berkualitas premium. Pasokan sangat penting, dan Pak Sugiman menjelaskan bahwa Tokusen dapat memproduksi dan mengirimkan produksi merekanya langsung ke semua pelanggan melalui sistem pengiriman yang terintegrasi.

Bagian kedua dari seminar ini kemudian membahas perihal proses pengawetan daging ‘dry-aging’ yang disokong oleh Dry Ager; brand lemari dan kabinet ‘dry-aging’ prestisius. Dipandu oleh Kepala R&D kuliner Lotus, Chef Geoffrey, beliau menjelaskan tentang proses yang berasal dari Eropa ini, keunggulannya, aturan praktis, hingga sejumlah tips untuk menentukan kondisi daging. Setelah mendengarkan penjelasannya yang menyeluruh, proses dry-aging bisa diibaratkan seperti meniupkan nafas kehidupan kembali pada daging lewat citarasa dan tampilan mereka

Dry Ager sendiri memiliki beberapa fitur yang sudah dipatenkan, seperti temperature konstan ( dari 0o C hingga +25o C) yang diatur dalam satuan 0,1o C.Dry Ager juga mampu mengatur tingkat kelembapan udara dalam satuan 0,5% mulai dari 60% hingga 90% berkat HumiControl ®. Lalu alat ini juga sanggup memberikan microclimate konstan, meski dengan fluktuasi dari temperatur lingkungan sekitar, berkat sistem DX AirReg® yang terintegrasi.

Dari sekian banyak ragam bumbu masak di penjuru dunia, Saffron bisa disebut sebagai salah satu yang paling eksklusif dalam hal penggunaan. Betapa tidak, rempah yang berasal dari putik bunga ini dipatok dengan harga luar biasa mahal yang
mencapai belasan hingga ratusan juta tergantung beratnya. Wow! Lalu apa saja kelebihannya?

Kata ‘Saffron’ berasal dari bahasa Persia, ‘zarparan’ yang berarti ‘bunga berkelopak emas’. Ya, bumbu rempah ini memang berasal dari benang sari bunga Crocus Sativus yang merupakan genus keluarga bunga Iridaceae. Yunani merupakan negara yang pertama kali membudidayakan bunga Crocus sebagai penghasil saffron.

Saffron menjadi amat digemari karena aromanya yang khas dan nikmat yang seringkali dideskripsikan sebagai campuran madu, metalik dan rumput kering. Jika digunakan agak banyak, maka akan ada citarasa pahit yang unik di masakan yang mengandung saffron; yang berasal dari sejumlah bahan kimia alami yang terkandung di dalamnya, seperti picrocrocin dan safranal. Ketika menjadi bumbu siap pakai, saffron biasanya berbentuk suwiran panjang-tipis dengan warna merah kekuningan yang menyala.

Lalu apa yang membuat saffron menjadi  begitu mahal? Seperti yang sudah disinggung di atas, bahan dasar utama saffron adalah putik bunga Crocus. Tiap bunga Crocus hanya menghasilkan tiga lembar putik, dan bunga tersebut hanya akan mekar selama tiga minggu sekali dalam kurun waktu satu tahun. Untuk menghasilkan 450 gram Saffron saja, dibutuhkan sekitar 50 – 70 ribu bunga Crocus yang semuanya dikumpulkan secara manual dengan tangan, atau setara dengan ukuran lapangan sepakbola. Melihat fakta tersebut, maka tak heran saffron menjadi salah satu bahan masakan dengan banderol paling ‘wah’ di dunia bukan?

Dengan citarasa serta aroma sedap yang khas, Kayu Manis / Cinnamon sudah lama menjadi bahan dasar utama dalam pembuatan kue. Berikut Passion coba telaah lebih dalam kegunaan dari rempah asli nusantara ini. Yuk, kita simak sama-sama!

Seperti namanya, ‘Kayu Manis’ secara harafiah berasal dari ekstrak kulit luar pohon Cinnamomum. Hingga saat ini, bahan berwarna coklat tersebut masih menjadi salah satu komoditas ekspor terbesar Indonesia lho! Keren ya!

Karena baunya yang harum dan khasiatnya yang berlimpah bagi kesehatan tubuh, Kayu Manis sangat jamak digunakan sebagai bahan dasar dalam pembuatan beraneka ragam kue atau kudapan ringan, bahkan minuman sekalipun. Namun perlu diperhatikan juga takaran penggunaanya, karena aromanya yang kuat bisa jadi akan membuat masakan anda tertutup sepenuhnya! Misalnya untuk masakan berkuah, gunakan kayu manis batangan yang panjangnya tak lebih dari 5 cm ke dalam seliter bahan cair. Untuk roti, cake atau pun kue kering cukup tambahkan sekurang-kurangnya sesendok teh kayu manis bubuk atau sesuaikan dengan resep yang ada.

“Di Indonesia, siapa sih yang tidak makan nasi?”, kata Ridwan Kumala, Consultant Chef PT. Wahana Inti Makmur (WIM) yang telah lama dikenal melalui restonya Carnivor. Ini sebabnya Ridwan bergabung menjadi partner PT. Wahana Inti Makmur sebagai pemain lama di industri beras yang memproduksi dari hulu ke hilir. Berbeda dengan perusahaan beras lain, PT. Wahana Inti Makmur lebih suka untuk berperan sebagai konsultan untuk industri horeca karena pada banyak kasus, ternyata masih banyak pemilik resto yang tidak memahami jenis beras yang sesuai dengan jenis makanan yang mereka sajikan.

“Peran nasi sangat penting, oleh sebab itu kami juga ingin mengedukasi pelanggan. Sebagai contoh, jika Anda ke resto sushi dan mendapatkan sushi yang pecah, itu karena tidak menggunakan beras Jepang yang bentuknya bulat dan lengket. Di sisi lain, restoran Padang harus menggunakan nasi yang sedikit pera, tidak boleh terlalu pulen, karena nasi akan dicampur berbagai jenis saus berbahan santan. Jika terlalu nasi pulen, teksturnya akan menjadi lembek setelah tercampur saus,” jelas Ridwan.

Salah satu keluhan pelanggan yang kerap dijumpai Ridwan adalah mengenai warna beras. “Kami selalu mencoba mengedukasi pelanggan bahwa semakin putih beras, maka vitamin yang terkandung semakin sedikit, bisa dikatakan, Anda hanya makan gula saja. Toh, beras yang cenderung keruh setelah dimasak menjadi nasi warnanya akan menjadi putih dengan sendirinya”.

PT. WIM sendiri memproduksi berbagai macam beras sesuai dengan berbagai kategori, mulai dari beras Jepang, Korea, Thailand, pandan wangi, setra ramos, basmati, hingga beras merah dan hitam. Beras beras ini juga tersedia di banyak supermarket terkemuka dengan berbagai nama brand yang Anda kenal.

Hingga kini di Indonesia, kemangi selalu diasosiasikan sebagai teman sejati lalapan (atau minimal campuran air ‘kobokan’nya). Namun ternyata tanaman dengan bau dan rasa khas yang segar ini juga memiliki banyak ragam manfaat bagi tubuh hingga dijuluki ‘daun suci’ atau ‘holy herb’ di sejumlah negara. Berikut PASSION coba mengajak para pembaca untuk mengupas (memetik?) lebih dalam lagi tentang dedaunan hijau nan cantik ini. Yuk kita simak bersama!

Dikenal sebagai Omicum Basillum dalam bahasa Latin atau Lemon Basil dalam bahasa Inggris, kemangi sejatinya berasal dari negara Iran, namun bisa tumbuh dengan subur di sejumlah negara lain beriklim tropis seperti India dan Indonesia. Daun kemangi berukuran kecil dan tumbuh membentuk semak-semak yang bisa mencapai tinggi 1 meter di usia puncaknya. Berdasarkan warnanya, kemangi dapat dibedakan menjadi dua macam yakni Asian basil dan Mediteranian sweet basil; yang pertama memiliki bunga berwarna merah muda, sedangkan Mediteranian sweet basil memiliki daun berwarna hijau.

Tidak terasa, pada 2019, Picardie akan merayakan ulang  tahunnya ke-65 sebagai “the original French tumbler”.  Dengan bentuk yang unik, sensual yang pas dalam  genggaman, serta facet yang dapat menangkap cahaya secara  ideal, sepertinya tidak ada lagi yang perlu dijelaskan mengenai  produk timeless star yang tetap menjaga kesederhanaannya ini.

Mungkin Anda tidak menyadarinya, namun Anda pasti pernah  melihat produk ini berbagai restoran, coffee shop, bar, bahkan  di berbagai film Hollywood seperti Skyfall James Bond dan Blue  Jasmine. 

Sejak diluncurkan pada 1954, Picardie berhasil menjadi ikon yang tersedia di berbagai kafe, sekolah, dan rumah-rumah di Prancis dan di berbagai tempat di seluruh dunia. Picardie diproduksi oleh Duralex di La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin di Loiret. Meski diproduksi dalam berbagai ukuran, salah satu identitas utama Picardie adalah tulisan “Made in France” di bagian dasar gelas yang mengelilingi desain sirkular nama Duralex.

Dalam rubric Spice edisi kali ini, PASSION ini mengajak para pembaca untuk mengenal lebih jauh tentang lentil; kacang mungil yang kerap diremehkan namun mengandung ratusan khasiat bagi tubuh serta bisa menjadi alternatif alami MSG sebagai pemberi rasa gurih.

Berasal dari India nan eksotis (dan juga popular di Timur Tengah), lentil tercatat sebagai salah satu bahan makanan tertua di dunia. Berupa kacang mungil yang hadir dalam tiga warna berbeda; kuning, hijau dan merah, biji-bijian bernama latin Lens Culinaris ini dikenal bukan hanya rasanya yang gurih alami, namun juga bermacam khasiatnya bagi tubuh.

Lentil, yang di Indonesia juga dikenal sebagai Miju-Miju, biasanya dijual dalam keadaan kering. Ia direndam terlebih dahulu dalam air dingin sebelum direbus hingga empuk, dan kemudian dikupas bersih. Rasa serta teksturnya mengingatkan pada kajang hijau kupas; lembut namun berserat. Lentil biasa digunakan dalam berbagai masakan ala Timur Tengah yang aromatik; seperti doner kebab, sup kari kental, perkedel hingga nasi. Ia merupakan salah satu pengganti terbaik untuk bahan MSG karena sama-sama mampumemberi rasa gurih pada makanan.Dalam rubric Spice edisi kali ini, PASSION ini mengajak para pembaca untuk mengenal lebih jauh tentang lentil; kacang mungil yang kerap diremehkan namun  mengandung ratusan khasiat bagi tubuh serta bisa menjadi alternatif alami MSG sebagai pemberi rasa gurih.

Di edisi kali ini, PASSION ingin mengulik tentang khasiat serta manfaat rempah ‘Star Anise’ atau yang biasa dikenal sebagai bunga lawang.

Berasal di dataran Tiongkok dan juga tumbuh subur di dataran Vietnam, bunga lawang merupakan rempah mujarab yang kaya akan citarasa sehingga jamak dipakai sebagai penyedap rasa dalam masakan Asia. Bentuk daunnya yang bertekstur tajam dan terdiri dari delapan ruas membuatnya menyandang nama ‘Star’ atau ‘Bintang’ dalam bahasa Inggris. Di China sendiri, rempah ini dikenal sebagai salah satu dari ngo hiang atau ‘Lima Bumbu Utama’ bersama adas, cengkih, kayu manis, dan juga lada Szechuan.

Bunga Lawang masuk kategori istimewa karena memiliki akar manis serta menghasilkan aroma wangi. Tidak heran jika rempah kering ini menjadi bahan pokok pada makanan di banyak negara di asia Asia seperti dalam sup Vietnam yang biasa dikenal dengan ‘pho’. Di negeri India ia dikenal sebagai salah satu campuran dalam garam masala, yang juga terdiri dari cengkih, kayu manis, merica hitam, jintan, ketumbar yang digunakan sebagai bumbu untuk nasi biryani yang sedap, dan juga beraneka ragam kari.

Pada 30 Agustus 2018, Sake+, sebuah restoran Jepang dengan koleksi sake terlengkap di Indonesia, menyajikan 5 course pairing Born Sake dinner dengan menghadirkan kolaborasi Executive Chef Sake+ Kamamura Toshinobu dan Sake Master Atsuhide Kato. Katou-Kichibee Shoten adalah produsen sake dari Sabae, Prefektur Fukui yang didirikan oleh money exchanger dan land lord, Katou Kichibee pada 1860. Atsuhide Kato adalah generasi ke-11 dari perusahaan keluarga ini.

Masakan pertama, Miyazaki Gyu Sushi topped with Caviar, Maguro Sashimi, Goma Tofu membuka makan malam dengan presentasi yang cantik, yang dipadukan dengan Born Gold Muroka Junmai Daiginjo. Miyazaki, salah satu jenis wagyu Jepang terbaik merupakan highlight dari hidangan ala sushi sashimi ini dengan sensasi melt-in-mouth, gurih dan sedikit manis. Untuk menyajikan rasa asli Miyazaki, kami bahkan tidak keberatan untuk mencicipi potongan Miyazaki mentah. Hidangan berikutnya merupakan hidangan yang tidak umum, Mushimono, Chilled Seafood Chawan Mushi, karena chawan mushi biasa dihidangkan hangat. Menu ini dipasangkan dengan Born Hoshi, Junmai Daiginjo, sake dengan body light, dry yang menyegarkan.

Jepang selama ini dikenal sebagai salah satu negara dengan kekayaan kuliner khas yang tersohor hingga ke penjuru dunia. Tentunya pada pembaca sudah tidak asing lagi dengan nama-nama (dan lezatnya citarasa) hidangan seperti sushi, sashimi, ramen, yakiniku dan lain sebagainya. Nah, untuk edisi kali ini, Passion ingin mengajak readers sekalian untuk mendalami perihal ‘Omi Hime’; daging sapi premium khas Negeri Sakura. Yuk, kita simak bersama!

Sebagai satu dari tiga daging sapi kelas tertinggi dari Jepang bersama Kobe dan Matsuzawa, Omi Hime memiliki keunikan tersendiri. Namanya secara harafiah dapat diartikan sebagai ‘Tuan Putri’ dan berasal dari prefektur Shiga di Osaka. Berbeda dengan dua nama di atas yang namanya masing-masing diambil langsung dari prefektur asalnya, Omi Hime bisa dikatakan mendapat perlakuan istimewa karena kekhasan citarasa serta teksturnya yang sangat berkelas.

In the 2000s, the concept couverture chocolate is rather new for most of Indonesians who are more accustomed to compound chocolate. In countries with strong food standard regulation, especially European countries, the word “real chocolate” must contain cocoa solid and cocoa butter, the latter has unique properties to melt in body temperature. 

Based on the data for the past 2 years, the growth of chocolate consumption in Europe and USA have been declining or flat, on the contrary, Asian market showed significant progress, especially in China, India, and Indonesia. As a respond to the interesting phenomenon, with its experience of over 25 years producing chocolate, PT. Freyabadi Indotama, along with technology from Fuji Oil, is reintroducing its new range of couverture chocolate brand under the name of Embassy Chocolate in 2018. The presence of Embassy Chocolate indicates that Asian market in general, especially Indonesia, is ready to step to the next level of pastry development by using couverture chocolate.

Consistency & Partnership

At the moment, even though the world is fascinated by the concept of single origin that offers distinctive taste and aroma of a region, Embassy Chocolate chooses to pick different approach. Embassy Chocolate regards the blend concept is far more consistent, from the perspective of product’s quality, supply continuality, to the price stability, which mean good for your business. If you don’t believe us, just ask your local barista or coffee shop owner about the inconsistency of single origin. The consistency issue is a breath of fresh air in the middle of the prediction of cacao tree extinction that will happen in 2050 due to disease and climate change.

With our history of chocolate, the experience and passion have built up a lot of good relationships with our customers. Baring this in mind, we feel this is our strength and we must take it to the next level by introducing this range of couvertures. “The biggest mistake in foodservice business happens when the salesmen just merely taking orders from clients. We prefer to discuss about the latest chocolate trends and introduce them to our clients,” explained Louis Tanuhadi, The Embassy of Chocolate.

Furthermore, Louis is illuminating the meaning behind the name “Embassy Chocolate”. “We have been known for our quality and consistency. The Embassy range still hopes to fulfill this legacy, as we’ve been known in the Indonesian context, we also want to highlight our strength to an international audience”.

At the moment, Embassy Chocolate is offering 6 products, from dark chocolate lines: The Continental Blend (75%), The Oceanic Blend (65%), The Equatorial Blend (56%), dark chocolate chips Torres (51%), to its milk chocolate Azalea (34%), and white chocolate Zen (33%). Of course, not everyone is familiar in working with couverture chocolate, therefore Embassy Chocolate also has its own training facility, Chocolate School that’s located in Altira Business Park, blok F-G 12-15 Utara Kav. 85, Sunter, Jakarta Utara.

Berasal dari kepulauan Maluku (ada juga yang menyebut bahwa benihnya dibawa dari benua Amerika), belimbing wuluh atau yang dikenal luas dengan nama ilmiah Averrhoa bilimbi merupakan salah satu buah yang jamak ditemui di Indonesia. Citarasanya yang sangat asam membuat buah mungil berwarna kehijauan ini lebih sering digunakan sebagai bahan masakan ketimbang dikonsumsi secara langsung. Meski cukup banyak dipakai sebagai penyedap masakan, namun buah yang juga disebut belimbing sayur ini jauh lebih dikenal karena khasiatnya yang melimpah ruah bagi kesehatan. Apa sajakah? Yuk kita simak bersama!

Citarasa belimbing wuluh yang luar biasa asam membuatnya menjadi ‘primadona’ bagi sejumlah masakan berbahan dasar daging dan berkuah, terutama ikan. Karena sifat alami asam yang menghilangkan bau amis dan menyedapkan rasa kuah yang dicampur dengan berbagai bahan lainnya. Hal inilah yang menyebabkan belimbing wuluh sangat fleksibel dan bisa digunakan di berbagai jenis makanan; mulai dari sambal hingga dijadikan sirup dan manisan. Di Bali contohnya, belimbing wuluh bisa digunakan sebagai bumbu pelengkap dalam sajian sambal matah. Sementara di daerah lain seperti Aceh, banyak yang diketahui menggunakan asam sunti yang diperoleh dari belimbing wuluh yang telah dilumuri garam lalu dijemur hingga kering.

Rahasia kelezatan steak daging sebenarnya terletak pada pemilihan kualitas dan potongan daging. Selain itu, cara memasaknya pun perlu diperhatikan sehingga kematangan daging bisa sesuai dengan yang kita harapkan.

Untuk kualitas daging terbaik, daging sapi Australia (Australian Beef) adalah pilihan yang tepat. Australian Beef dikenal dengan kualitasnya yang empuk dan juicy. Produksi Australian Beef dilakukan dengan kontrol yang ketat sehingga menghasilkan daging yang berkualitas baik dan konsisten. Rahasia keempukan daging sapi Australia sebenarnya terdapat pada proses produksinya. Sapi-sapi di Australia diberi pakan berupa rumput-rumputan (grassfed), dan dilanjutkan dengan pemberian pakan berupa biji-bijian (grainfed) selama waktu tertentu sesuai permintaan pasar. Australia pun memiliki sistem yang memastikan food safety, yaitu dengan adanya program-program jaminan mutu dan traceability system atau sistem pelacakan. Sistem-sistem ini diterapkan untuk memastikan bahwa daging yang dihasilkan dari ternak di Australia aman untuk dikonsumsi dan tidak mengandung penyakit hewan. Dan yang pasti, seluruh daging sapi Australia yang dikirim ke Indonesia bersertifikat halal dan disembelih sesuai syariat agama Islam.

Just like any other seasoning ingredients, it takes wisdom to apply MSG. Chef Eric told us his experience of working in Chinese kitchen. “Many Chinese chefs have this thinking, ‘no MSG, no Masterchef!’ Chinese chef used a lot of dried seafood such as abalone, dried shrimp, cuttlefish to make good broth. But over the years, the price of these ingredients have increased tremendously. Originally, they make all the soup broth without having to add any MSG, they used certain amount of the ingredients to reach the intensity that they want. You fast forward 10 years later, the price of the ingredients have gone up by double. The price for selling has increased for only 25%, obviously the cost of the ingredient can not justify the increase of the selling price, there must be cost cutting option. What they did was, they cut the ingredients used by half, and they to replicate the intensity with MSG,” explained Eric.

However, this is exactly where thing goes from “flavor enhancer” to the “abuse of substance”. “Why abuse? You must remember, older chefs are not educated with information of what MSG is. When they cut the ingredients, they got lot of improvements with MSG, so if a little bit goes a long way, then, it means the more the merrier, right?” asked Eric.

Eventually all the good ingredients are replaced with MSG. “From there, I can tell you that MSG is like any other seasoning ingredient you use, like sugar, salt, or acid. Too much concentration will make you feel very saturated, just like you can‘t accept anything too salty, sweet, sour. That’s why it’s not the more the merrier, as a chef, it’s how you create the flavor balance. The next point is, it helps you to manage food cost,” said Eric.

So, Is It Safe?

Many people think MSG as some kind of chemicals because they hear so much negative things about MSG from wrong articles. Chef Eric suggested that you should also look at the source of the articles, is it from independent organization or individual, does it involves any endorsement?

In fact, MSG is made of natural ingredients such as corn, sugar cane, sago, or rice starch using bioscience related processes, like fermentation followed by hydrolysis. Chef Eric Low even made a controversial statement, “Actually, MSG is good for you. In addition to being flavor enhancer, help you manage food cost, MSG also acts as blood pressure regulator. People always says that people with high blood pressure should not take any MSG, but actually, people with low blood pressure should consume more MSG,” said Eric.

To support his statement, Chef Eric even added stronger facts. “Let me tell you something, no governmental organization in the world has ever declared that MSG is a food poison or bad for health, and no leading medical institution of school or research center in the world even dare to say that MSG is bad for you. You know why? Because they can not prove that the side effect (thirsty, headache, nauseous, associated with chinese restaurant syndrome) came from MSG. In fact,
the effects came from the food that was also cooked with salt. Why do you want to blame it only on MSG? Do you have any medical studies or science to prove it?” asked Eric.

If you’re still concerned about MSG’s safety, you should listen to the FDA’s (Food and Drug Administration) recommendation. FDA is the leading government controlled department in US, followed by many other countries all around the world, including Singapore. The moment FDA give food alert, our local ministry will take action following what they declare.

“In terms of safety and certification, this is the most powerful safety certification you can get. So far, FDA has given MSG the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) recommendation. There’s nothing more powerful than FDA’s in safety
certification” said Eric.

Expensive VS Cheap MSG

As other ingredients, MSG came in different price, and the product’s quality varies from brand to brand. What makes the difference? Chef Eric explained it further, ”MSG that’s just based on glutamic alone only consist of very small amount, it needs to be combined with salt as carrier. So for manufacturers, if they want to sell the MSG cheap, they can not give you so much glutamic content. However, it’s very cheap to produce salt,” said Eric.

“You’ll see the difference in the size of the crystal. Generally speaking, the bigger the crystal, the more salt it has. Therefore, good quality MSG can be priced double than the cheaper ones, but it has smaller particle, similar to icing sugar. You will no longer take the salt in cheap MSG for granted, because it has salty effect on the food. At least, now you know that you would taste your food first before you put additional salt after putting some MSG,” explained Eric.

Meski telah menjadi bahan yang kerap digunakan pada perlengkapan dapur, stainless steel ternyata memiliki beberapa jenis yang memiliki tingkat kualitas yang berbeda. 2 jenis stainless steel yang paling sering digunakan adalah 201 dan 304.

Komposisi dari stainless steel SUS201 adalah 17Cr–4,5Ni–6Mn-N. Stainless steel 201 sering digunakan sebagai bahan rel kereta, namun karena tingginya kandungan Mn (manganese) besi ini lebih mudah berkarat, sifat anti korosi dan kekuatannya relatif rendah, sehingga harganya juga lebih rendah. Singkatnya, SUS201 sebetulnya tidak sesuai untuk kebutuhan masak.

Hampir di setiap pameran F&B besar selalu melibatkan kompetisi yang diselenggarakan oleh berbagai asosiasi kuliner. Kami percaya mereka semua memiliki satu tujuan yang sama, memajukan kuliner Indonesia. Lalu mengapa ada begitu banyak asosiasi kuliner di Indonesia? Kami bertemu dengan Chef Rahmat Kusnedi, Presiden IPA (Indonesia Pastry Alliance) untuk membahas banyak hal dibelakang asosiasi yang tidak banyak diketahui masyarakat umum, mengenai tujuan mereka, alasan perpecahan, meski sebetulnya semua asosiasi tersebut berasal dari sumber yang sama.

Almost every major F&B exhibition involves competition held by culinary associations. We believe, they all have common objective: to develop Indonesian culinary. Then why we have so many culinary associations in Indonesia? We met Chef Rahmat Kusnedi, President of IPA (Indonesia Pastry Alliance) to discuss many things behind the association’s screen that is not widely known for public, about the their objectives, the separation issue, even though they’re all came from the same source.

Halo Readers! Berjumpa kembali di rubrik Spice. Kali ini, kami hendak mengupas serba-serbi tanaman kecombrang, atau yang juga dikenal sebagai kantan, honjeatau Torch Ginger dalam bahasa Inggris. Selain cantik, bunga rempah ini juga sangat berkhasiat dan banyak dipakai sebagai bumbu masakan lho!

Eric Low mengakhiri perdebatan mengenai salah satu bahan paling kontroversial di industri kuliner, MSG. Ketika Anda mendengar istilah “generasi micin” untuk menggambarkan milenial yang bertingkah bodoh, kami merasa harus melakukan investigasi mengenai kebenaran pernyataan tersebut. Untungnya, ACP (Association of Culinary Professionals) Indonesia mengundang Chef Eric Low pada 30 Juni 2018 untuk melakukan seminar food science, dan di salah satu sesi, Eric berbicara mengenai penggunaan MSG.

When we heard the term “generasi micin” (MSG generation) to describe young millenials who act stupid, we felt the urge we need to do some investigation to tell if there’s any truth to the statement. Fortunately, ACP (Association of Culinary Professionals) Indonesia invited Chef Eric Low on June 30th 2018 to do a food science seminar, and in one of his session, Eric discussed about the use of MSG.

Sebelum membahas tentang suhu yang aman untuk memasak daging, selalu ingat untuk menyimpan daging mentah, baik daging sapi, kambing, ayam, dan seafood pada tempat terpisah. Sebagai tambahan, selalu gunakan cutting board terpisah untuk bahan-bahan tersebut untuk menghindari kontaminasi silang.

Kawasan Asia Tenggara sudah lama dikenal sebagai penghasil rempah terbaik di dunia; salah satunya turmeric atau yang Indonesia biasa disebut kunyit. Warna kuning serta citarasanya yang khas membuat rempah yang satu ini menjadi primadona khususnya pada masakan nusantara. Penasaran ingin mengenal kunyit lebih dalam? Yuk, simak ulasan PASSION berikut ini!

Jika Anda mengenal orang kopi, mungkin Anda akan heran melihat kecerewetan mereka untuk hal apa pun soal kopi, mulai dari asal biji kopi, ukuran gilingan, temperatur air, durasi penyeduhan, hingga jumlah partikel dalam air. Pada produk milk based coffee seperti cappuccino dan café latte, kandungan susu malah lebih banyak dari kopi. Fenomena unik terjadi pada tahun lalu dimana mulai banyak coffee shop premium yang beralih menggunakan susu lokal baru yang bernama Hometown. Fakta ini merupakan pembuktian tersendiri untuk Hometown.

Tentu produk ini bukan untuk semua coffee shop. beberapa coffee shop kelas menengah enggan menggunakannya karena 2 hal: harganya yang relatif lebih tinggi, dan shelf life yang singkat, hanya 2 minggu. Dari shelf-life yang singkat ini, kami yakin bahwa Hometown merupakan produk susu pasteurisasi, definisi dari susu segar yang sering dilupakan orang. Kami memutuskan untuk menemui Dayu Ariasintawati, Managing Director Great Giant Livestock untuk mengetahui lebih jauh mengenai kondisi pasar susu dalam negeri, definisi susu segar, dan cerita unik soal penetrasi Hometown ke coffee shop.

If you coffee people, you’ll be amazed of how fussy they are for everything in coffee, from the bean’s origin, grind size, water temperature, brewing duration, to the number of particle in water. On milk-based coffee such as cappuccino and café latte, the milk content is higher than the actual coffee. A unique phenomenon occurred last year when suddenly some premium coffee shops  began using the new local milk brand called Hometown. The fact speaks volume for Hometown’s quality.

Of course, it’s not for all coffee shops. Some middle class coffee shops are reluctant to use it mainly for 2 reasons: the price is relatively higher, and shorter shelf-life, only 2 weeks. From the short shelf-life, we believe Hometown is a pasteurized milk, the very definition of fresh milk that’s been long forgotten. We decided to meet Dayu Ariasintawati, Managing Director of Great Giant Livestock to dig deeper into the local dairy market’s situation, definition of fresh milk, unique story of how they penetrate into coffee shops.

Patogen atau bakteri berbahaya bisa membuat Anda sakit melalui gejala ringan hingga berat. Pada dasarnya patogen adalah kelompok kecil bakteri yang meski jumlahnya kecil, patogen ini menular dan berbahaya. Bakteri patogen dapat melukai tubuh dengan cara memproduksi racun di makanan Anda. Racun ini tahan terhadap panas, artinya, setelah makanan Anda terkontaminasi, proses masak dapat membunuh bakteri, namun tidak menghancurkan racun di dalamnya. Pada akhirnya, Anda mengalami keracunan makan dan jatuh sakit. Salah satu contoh patogen adalah Clostridium botulinum, bakteri yang terdapat pada makanan kalengan yang memproduksi botulin, neuro-toxin yang dapat menyerang sistem saraf dan membuat Anda lumpuh.

Bagi penggemar hidangan Asia Tenggara pada umumnya serta Indonesia pada khususnya, bawang merah merupakan salah satu bahan dasar (rahasia) utama yang harus ada dalam bumbu racikan. Dalam rubric berikut, PASSION MEDIA coba kulik beberapa fakta menarik perihal jenis tanaman yang di pulau Jawa juga dikenal sebagai ‘brambang’ tersebut.

Hygiene dan kebersihan adalah prinsip yang harus dipegang teguh oleh para chef dan cook ketika mempersiapkan makanan untuk tamu. Bisa dibilang, kualitas material dan presentasi menu adalah aspek yang bisa dilihat dari kualitas makanan di sebuah restoran, namun bagaimana jika tamu komplain setelah mereka makan di restoran mewah Anda – mereka jatuh sakit karena keracunan makanan? Semua citra mewah yang dihadirkan dan reputasi Anda rusak hanya karena hal kecil yang tidak bisa dilihat mata telanjang.

Mendarat di Bali dan singgah di berbagai destinasi wisata pantai, menjadi hal yang paling dicari oleh para wisatawan. Namun kini, tidak hanya destinasi pantai yang menjadi daya tarik pulau dewata ini. Udara sejuk pedesaan dengan segala macam kerajinan dan kuliner istimewanya, menjadikan Ubud sebagai destinasi andalan setiap wisatawan yang berkunjung ke Bali.

Pemandangan tebing, sawah, dan gemericik air terjun atau aliran sungai memang sangat menenangkan. Sapaan ramah khas Ubud juga menjadi magnet bagi setiap pengunjungnya. Sthala, A Tribute Portfolio Ubud Bali, merupakan destinasi baru di Ubud yang tidak hanya menyuguhkan akomodasi kamar melainkan juga sajian kuliner yang patut dicoba.

Makanan tradisional yang dulu biasa menjadi sajian disaat “pulang kampung”, kini tidak lagi hanya disajikan secara konvensional. Executive Chef, Aris Supriyanto, serius mengolah dan mengintepretasikan makanan tradisional secara lengkap. Daya tarik yang awalnya hanya ada di rumah, kini diolah dan dapat dinikmati, salah satunya di Sungai Restaurant, Sthala, A Tribute Portfolio Ubud Bali.

Sungai Restaurant

Sungai restaurant yang terletak di dalam area hotel menyuguhkan berbagai sajian dan pilihan bersantap untuk para pengunjung Ubud. Hamparan hijau Abing Terrace akan membuat pengunjung leluasa untuk mengeksplorasi indahnya alam Ubud. Berfoto di tepian sungai Wos atau di Gazebo Abing menjadi salah satu agenda yang tidak boleh dilewatkan.

Pancious Group mempersembahkan Pancious Benefit App untuk semakin memanjakan para pecinta Pancious. Resmi diperkenalkan pada Senin, 14 Mei 2018 di Pancious Grand Indonesia Jakarta, Pancious merayakan sebelas tahun kebersamaan bersama para tamu setianya dengan meluncurkan rewards program berbasiskan mobile application. Pancious Benefit App yang dibuat dengan fokus kepada tamu ini merupakan sebuah privilege spesial bagi para pengunjung Pancious. Pancious Benefit App memberikan kemudahan, keamanan dan kenyamanan bagi setiap pemiliknya; lebih compact tanpa harus repot membawa kartu fisik, bersifat personalized, setiap pengguna dapat mengakses sendiri track record nya di Pancious.

Seorang Mira Yudhawati meski tidak memiliki espresso machine di rumahnya, ia tetaplah tipe seseorang yang meracik kopinya sendiri di berbagai kesempatan. Baik ketika di rumahnya saat akhir pekan bersama keluarga dan hari-hari di kantornya. Bahkan juga ketika menjadi penumpang pesawat di sela-sela perjalanannya keliling dunia sebagai juri kompetisi kopi internasional.

Selain menyukai kopi-kopi berjenis single origin, Mira juga melengkapi hobinya dengan berbagai alat yang memungkinkannya meracik kopi kapan
saja. “Kalau aku sehari-hari bawa penggiling kopi biasanya merek Comandante. Masih jadi favorit dan yang terbaik. Permukaan kayunya tidak bikin licin saat
dipegang dan hasil gilingannya presisi”, aku Mira.

Tapi Mira mengakui kalau saat traveling tidak juga selalu harus membawa alat giling. “Minimal aku bawa QBag atau Clever Dripper. Nanti tinggal
seduh di kamar hotel atau bahkan saat di pesawat tinggal minta air panas”,
begitu sahutnya.

Soal ngopi di pesawat menurutnya jadi keharusan tersendiri tertama untuk perjalanan jauh. “Cranky juga bawaannya kalau tidak ngopi misalnya perjalanan jauh ke Eropa atau Amerika. Tapi wangi-wangi kopi yang saya seduh malah bikin orang lain menengok ke saya!”, ujarnya sambil tertawa.

Kopi favoritnya dari Caswell’s adalah Ethiopia Yirgacheffe. Untuk produk lokalnya sendiri ada kopi Aceh dan khususnya Jawa Barat yang sedang naik daun belakangan ini. Intinya bagi Mira, ia suka kopi yang bercitarasa ringan tapi memiliki karakter-karakter unik.

Kali ini ia berbagi preferensi pribadinya dalam meracik kopi dengan menggunakan Clever Dripper.

Jika Anda ingin tahu mengenai perkembangan dunia kopi di Indonesia, Toni Wahid merupakan salah satu nama yanh harus Anda temui.

Penulis blog kopi Cikopi.com menulis tentang kopi sejak 2007, jauh sebelum biji kopi single origin dan manual brew menjadi pemandangan yang biasa. Bagi banyak orang, saat itu Cikopi.com merupakan satu-satunya media di Internet untuk mempelajari kopi. Hingga sekarang, jika Anda mencari segala sesuatu tentang kopi di Google, bukan tidak mungkin link dari Cikopi.com akan muncul paling atas.

Kami menemui Toni Wahid di kantornya, kami cukup terkejut karena ternyata ia adalah seorang Manager Assessment & Remediation Supplier Sustainibility dari perusahaan pakaian Gap Inc, tidak ada hubungannya dengan kopi. Seperti yang bisa diduga, ketika dua orang penikmat kopi membicarakan kopi, tentunya ditemani dengan segelas kopi, waktu terasa berjalan begitu cepat. Simak cuplikan wawancara kami dengan Toni Wahid.

Tampaknya sekarang pandangan masyarakat akan kopi sudah jauh berbeda?

Saya tanya, dulu apa sih kerennya minum kopi? Itu minuman orang tua, orang yang mau ronda malam, atau mahasiswa yang mau ujian. Semua berubah setelah adanya Starbucks (hadir di Indonesia pada 2002), dengan kepiawaian (Howard) Schultz, ia mengubah aktivitas ngopi dan mengadaptasi ke kebudayaan Amerika. Jika tadinya ukuran cappuccino kecil, ia mengupsize semua, kemudian menambahkan gula, siapa yang tidak suka gula? Sejak itulah coffee shop menjadi tempat persinggahan ketiga setelah rumah dan kantor.

Sekarang kita bisa dapat mendapatkan kopi Blue Batak atau Ethiopia di coffee shop dengan mudah, namun 5-7 tahun ke belakang, hampir tidak ada kopi single origin meski café bermunculan. Akhirnya Anomali Coffee (pada 2005) yang memang khusus menyajikan kopi Indonesia. Sejak saat itu, industri ini terus berkembang, terutama dari kelas menengah yang memiliki daya beli semakin kuat dan para lulusan sekolah luar negeri yang baru kembali dari Amerika atau Australia. Jumlah mereka cukup banyak, beberapa dari mereka membuat coffee shop karena mereka menginginkan kopi yang sama dengan yang mereka dapatkan di luar negeri.

Jelaskan tentang cerita legendaris unboxing V60 di rumah Anda, sepertinya itu sangat
berkesan bagi banyak orang kopi.

Sama dengan biji kopi, alat seduh kopi saat itu juga sangat terbatas. Dulu saya sangat bahagia ketika menemukan ada yang
menjual Vietnam drip di Kaskus seharga Rp 75.000-100.000, atau ketika saya beli French press di Starbucks, namun harganya saat itu masih mahal, sekitar Rp
400.000-500.000. Tentu orang berpikir, untuk apa menghabiskan Rp 500.000 demi menyeduh kopi? Itu baru alat seduh, kita belum bicara grinder kopi. Belum ada
grinder manual, sementara grinder espresso harganya mahal.

Ketika Maharaja Coffee menjual V60 yang sedang trend di Amerika dan Jepang, saya langsung memesan dan mengumpulkan semua orang kopi di rumah saya untuk mencoba alat ini. Itu sekitar akhir 2010, hadir juga beberapa orang kopi seperti Adi (Taroepratjeka), Irvan (Helmi),
Mirza (Luqman), ada sekitar 10 orang saat itu. Kami senang karena ada alat yang bisa menyeduh kopi yang sederhana, namun enak, padahal sebetulnya bentuknya hanyalah kerucut dan terbuat dari plastik. Kami mencoba menyeduh kopi dengan V60 hingga malam, bukan norak mungkin, tapi lebih ke excitement.

Lalu boleh dicatat bahwa saya mungkin orang Indonesia pertama yang punya Hario Buono, saya membelinya di Korea pada 2007. Itu teko yang seksi sekali,
Ini langkah awal dan kami berharap akan datang alat-alat lain yang lebih sophisticated.

If you’d like to know about the development of coffee industry in Indonesia, perhaps Toni Wahid is one of the first people you need to see. The author of Cikopi.com has been writing about coffee since 2007, dar before single origin bean or manual brew became common sight. To many, at the time Cikopi.com is the only media in Internet to learn about coffee. Until now, if you’re Googling for nything related to coffee, it’s highly possible to find Cikopi’s link at the

top of the search results.

When we met Toni Wahid in his office, we’re a bit surprised to know that he’s actually a Manager Assessment & Remediation Supplier Sustainibility for a retail clothing company, Gap Inc, not related to coffee at all. As expected, when 2 coffee drinkers talk about coffee, accompanied by a glass of coffee, of
course, time flies. Here’s our interview with Toni Wahid.

It seems like people’s perception for coffee has completely changed?

I ask you, what’s so cool about drinking coffee? It’s a drink for elders, for night patrols, or students who are facing exams. Everything’s changed with the arrival of Starbucks (came to Indonesia in 2002), with Schultz’s proficiency in changing coffee activities and adapted them into American culture. If cappuccino was served in small cups, he upsized everything, then add sugar, who doesn’t love sugar? Ever since, coffee shops have become the third home, asidefor house and office.

We can get Blue Batak or Ethiopian bean in coffee shop easily, but 5-7 years ago, we have very few single origin coffee, even though coffee shops are growing. Finally, we have Anomali Coffee (est. 2005) which focused on single origin Indonesian bean. Since then, we have more middle class with their rising purchasing power and overseas graduates who just returned from America or Australia. There were many of them, some opened their coffee shops because they want the same coffee they had in other countries.


Tell me about the legendary unboxing V60 story at your house, it seems unforgettable for many coffee people.

Same like coffee bean, the brewing tool was very limited back then. I was very happy when I saw someone sold Vietnam drip in Kaskus for Rp 75.000-100.000, or when I bought French press at Starbucks, but it was very expensive back then, around Rp 400.000-500.000. Of course, people would think, why spend over Rp 500.000 just to brew coffee? Not to mention the coffee grinder. We haven’t got any manual grinder, meanwhile espresso grinder was very expensive.

When Maharaja Coffee sold V60, which was very popular in America and Japan, I immediately ordered one and invited all the coffee people to come to my house. It was around the end of 2010, we have some coffee people such as Adi (Taroepratjeka), Irvan (Helmi), Mirza (Luqman), there were around 10 people. We
were so happy to find a brewing tool that can simply brew nice tasting coffee, even though it was just just basically, a plastic cone. We tried to brew coffee using it until midnight, a bit cheesy I know, but we were so excited back then.

Please note that I was probably the first Indonesian to have Hario Buono, which I bought in Korea 2007. It was a very sexy kettle, this was the first step and we
were expecting other more sophisticated brewing equipments to come along.

We already had a coffee community back then?

Coffee community is a bit loose, we’ve been friends for a while. Whenever we have anything new, we’ll contact each other, “care to try this tool?” After that, we
had Gene Café roaster, we never imagine to have portable roasting machine which produce decent roasted coffee. And then we gathered again to roast coffee at the side of the road, because it was smoking. Coffee people have high curiosity, we’re very eager for knowledge, not just as coffee drinker, we’d like to know the story behind everything, from brewing, roasting, to coffee farm.


What’s the idea behind Cikopi.com, there was no such blog in Indonesia which focused on coffee?

We have many coffee blogs now, but perhaps I started earlier, around 2007. I built Cikopi because I love sharing, of course with my simple approach. The topics were very general, after audience had the big picture, they will look for further information elsewhere. Back then, who would read blog about coffee? Moreover, if I had used complicated terms. So I used the blog to share my personal experience of testing equipments, tasting coffee here and there. People started to pay attention, and it continues until now. It’s been 10 years already, almost 11, crazy isn’t it?


The one who starts the 3rd wave movement in Jakarta was One Fifteenth.

Look, coffee shops were mostly conservative, don’t pay much attention to interior, and were not coffee showcase, more to usual hangout places. Then One Fifteenth came and offered something different. It had nice interior, expesinve machines and equipments, and we could see what the baristas were doing, similar to open kitchen concept, but we could talk directly with the baristas. Thus, interaction and engagement between visitors and baristas were created.

One Fifteenth also offered different identity in F&B world, it was not just about lifestyle or passion, we could enjoy the whole coffee drinking experience, using our own selected bean and direct interaction. Drinking coffee was no longer seen as private sphere, it turned into public sphere, moreover, when the guests started to upload the photos to social media.

Are you happy with the current coffee scene?

Both. I’m happy when people got the chance to enjoy the best commodities from Indonesia and the world, we have to appreciate it, and coffee shops offer it.
We can’t boast Indonesian bean’s quality without comparing them to imported bean, can we? Now we can do the cupping easily. Secondly, the business grows
entrepreneurships. Opening a coffee is sufficient with 1-2 million rupiahs, it has been proven.

1-2 millions? What sort of coffee shop?

Let say Kopi Apik in Majalengka. They opened a coffee shop at the house’s patio, initially offering Vietnam drip coffee with only milk, coffee, hot water, and
they earned success. With Rp 5.000-7000 coffee/cup, you can hangout as you like form 4.00 pm-12.00 pm, and people gathered there. However, in Indonesia, we
need main course to accompany the coffee, so it’s a bit difficult for a pure coffee shops, they’re gonna struggle a lot.

Yes, many idealist coffee shops started to offer main course menu.

At the end, it’s more to bistro. I always say it from the beginning, it’s not a coffee shop until you serve fried rice and oxtail soup. Indonesians love social interaction, they can chat for hours, and it makes them hungry. For them, pastry, cakes is not a meal. So there has to be main courses, be it local or western, in addition, there’s big profit behind those menus.

The realistic coffee shop will switch the concept, because, let’s be honest, how many cups of coffee you can drink? A cup? Two cups? More than that, your stomach will be bloating. You have to follow the movement of the industry. Keep your idealism for brewing coffee at home, it’s a different story when you’re
facing the customers.

The thing is, Indonesia is actually a tea drinking nation, not coffee, that’s why sweet ice tea and lychee ice tea sells really well. The one who’s most successful in changing the habit is Kopi Blandongan in Yogyakarta, it’s a 24 hour coffee shop which can be called as pioneer of coffee shop in Yogyakarta.

People are opening coffee shop with small to limitless budget, using very expensive machines. Back then, it was very difficult to sell grinder for 11-12 million
rupiahs. Now, to buy grinders worth over 20 million, people are like closing their eyes. When the products arrived, they were sold out immediately, you even
have to be on the waiting list. The same goes for espresso machine, it’s getting more sophisticated, attractive, and becomes the showcase in a coffee
shop.

Then, what makes you unhappy?

We have many closing down coffee shops, whether they’re too excited or because of poor execution. However, I believe it’s purely mismanagement issue, it’s not
the coffee. Just look at Kelapa Gading, they have so many new coffee shops. The condition is similar to San Fransisco, there’s a joke that said that San
Fransisco have more restaurants and it’s actual residents.

F&B industry has high mortality rate. Who says that? All of the coffee vendors, so I can safely say my data is valid. I don’t know the exact number, but let say
from 10 coffee shops, usually 2-3 will close down within 3 months - 1 year. Sometimes Indonesians are strange, when they have low income, everything is
okay, but when they started to gain success, they started to have conflicts, and in the end, they’re closing down. It’s the most common cause.

Second, many overly excited owners spend too much budget without thinking when to get ROI. They borrow loan from bank, hunted by debt collectors, and it’s the end. Last, it’s mismanagement issue. If a coffee shop has 10 investors doesn’t have any idea of where they’re going, when they had conflicts, one by one started to quit, and then the end.

On the other hand, we have so many success stories, most of them already have commitment to build a business, even though it started from idealism. They have
planning, clear vision of where they’ll be in the next 2-3 years, and they execute the plan well. Koultoura Coffee for example, they didn’t rush to open
new outlets, and then Ismaya Group with its Djournal Coffee that grow so fast, of course, they already have the basic to manage big F&B business properly.

Then we talk about roasters. Do you know how many roasters, or the self-proclaimed coffee roaster in Jakarta? Perhaps it’s over a hundred. We also have micro
roasters. Can you believe that you can start roasting business using roasting machine with only 250 gr capacity? People bought it because it’s all they can
afford, it worths around 7 million rupiah. One of them is my own best friend, Yunus from Roswell Coffee in Bandung. He started with 250 gr machine, then we
have Kopi Pak Wawan, Get Back Coffee. Now they already use bigger capacity machines, do you know Kopi Pak Wawan? Do you know their tagline?

 Chef Mate sekali lagi menyelenggarakan Grand Baking Demo di Harris Hotel Vertu Harmoni Jakarta, dengan menghadirkan Chef ternama di Indonesia untuk mendemokan resep terbaik mereka yaitu; Chef Giat Setyawan; Opera Green Tea de Menthe, Chef Yongki Gunawan; Chocolate Roll Snoep, Australian Mud Cake, Chocolate Coffee Rhum Cake, Amarula Fruit de Crème, Taro Choux Glazing, Chocolate Coffee Cake dan tidak kalah menariknya ada Chef Vindex Tengker dengan Chocolate Baileys & Kahlua Charlotte, acara meriah tersebut di hadiri oleh kurang lebih 300 peserta dari kalangan pelaku industry pastry bakery hingga ibu-ibu rumah tangga.

Heavenly Sweet seolah tidak pernah berhenti untuk mendatangkan pastry chef terbaik dunia. Kali ini, mereka tidak hanya mendatangkan satu, namun dua orang Pastry Chef ternama, Antonio Bachour dan Carles Mampel untuk memberikan Viennoiserie Class pada 2-4 April, dilanjutkan dengan Entremets, Petit Gateaux, Tarts, Chocolate and Sable pada 5-7 April.

Memasuki ulang tahunnya yang ke-5, El Asador merayakannya dengan perayaan ulang tahunnya pada 26 April 2018 dengan cara menghadirkan makanan free flow dan harga spesial untuk minuman, ditemani dengan iringan live music. Pada bulan ini, El Asador juga memperkenalkan 2 potongan daging terbarunya: Chuleton dan Asado. Chuleton merupakan potongan daging sapi yang mengakhiri perdebatan antara sirloin vs tenderloin, sekarang Anda mendapatkan keduanya

pada tulang yang masih menempel. Harap diingat, daging yang paling dekat tulang adalah yang paling enak. Dengan bobot minimal 800 gram, ini merupakan pilihan daging untuk sharing, kecuali Anda benar-benar lapar. Kemudian, Asado merupakan iga sapi yang masih menempel pada tulang dan paling dicari orang Amerika Latin.

The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta,

Mega Kuningan memperkenalkan kembali Asia Restaurant dalam tampilannya yang terbaru setelah beberapa waktu menjalani renovasi. Sebagai salah satu restoran
berkonsep all day dining yang paling prestisius di Jakarta, Asia kini tampil sangat elegan, didesain secara eklektik dan kontemporer, serta hadir
tiga kali sehari dengan konsep makan prasmanannya.

Para pecinta steak tentu mengenal Ruth’s Chris Steak House sudah yang terkenal di seluruh dunia. Sejak ditemukan oleh Ruth Fertel di New Orleans pada 1965, Ruth’s Chris terus berkembang hingga mencapai 150 cabang di sleluruh dunia. Di Indonesia, Ruth’s Chris berlokasi di lantai ground dari Somerset Grand Citra Apartments, tepat di samping Raffles Hotel di tengah kawasan bisnis Kuningan. Para tamu dapat mencoba marbled custom aged US Prime Beef yang dimasak pada broiler bersuhu 982o C yang didesain oleh Ruth Fertel.

Pada 28 Februari 2018, Vin+ mengadakan acara Wine Dinner Joseph Drouhin di Vin+ Arcadia. Ini adalah acara yang menghadirkan 5 course menu oleh Chef Djoko Sarwono dan Chef Deni Sugiarto, yang dipairing dengan wine Burgundy premium, Joseph Drouhin. Christophe Thomas, Direktur Ekspor Joseph Drouhin juga turut hadir dan menjadi host pada malam tersebut. Setelah terkesan dengan kualitas wine Burgundy, kami memutuskan untuk mengadakan interview eksklusif dengan Christophe untuk mengetahui rahasia kualitas Joseph Drouhin.

For things like wine, sometimes our ancestors know better ways to express the terroir.

In February 28th 2018, Vin+ was hosting a Joseph Drouhin Wine Dinner in Vin+ Arcadia. It was a 5 course menu by Chef Djoko Sarwono and Chef Deni Sugiarto, paired with premium Burgundy wines, Joseph Drouhin. Christophe Thomas, the Export Director of Joseph Drouhin was also present to host the night. Delighted by the fine Burgundy wine, we decided to have an exclusive interview with Christophe to find out the secret of Joseph Drouhin’s quality.

Yeu Saigon Café hadir membawakan angin segar untuk para eksekutif, pekerja dan keluarga, yaitu dengan memperkenalkan kuliner Vietnam yang otentik dan sehat. Terletak di Kawasan Epicentrum Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan dengan konsep restoran casual dining, Yeu Saigon Café cocok untuk di jadikan tempat makan siang maupun meting dengan private room dan pelayanan terbaik.

Ketika chef owner dari salah satu resto fine dining terbaik di Indonesia berkolaborasi dengan seorang Michelin Star Guest Chef, tentu saya mengharapkan sesuatu yang megah. Namun, Gilles Marx dan Olivier Oddos justru mengingatkan hal dasar yang sering terlupakan di scene fine dining yang megah.

Seringkali musisi pemula terobsesi dengan teknik-teknik untuk pamer (right hand tapping di gitar atau double pedal pada drum) sehingga mengabaikan alasan keberadaan mereka: untuk melayani lagu. Tentu saja, Ringo Starr dapat memainkan part rumit di “A Day in The Life”, tapi ketika bermain dalam lagu Beatles yang lebih lembut seperti “Here There and Everywhere”, ia tidak main berlebihan, semata karena lagu tersebut memang tidak membutuhkannya.

Hal yang sama terjadi di scene fine dining. Saya tidak menyalahkan jika Anda berpikir bahwa scene ini adalah mengenai makanan dengan porsi yang jauh lebih kecil, yang disajikan secara indah, menggunakan edible flower secara berlebihan dan bahan-bahan mewah seperti foei gras dan caviar. Namun, beberapa chef percaya bahwa tujuan utama mereka adalah untuk melayani bahan baku, terutama bagi chef Jepang dan Perancis. Sashimi adalah contoh sempurna. Meski menyajikan potongan daging ikan mentah terlihat sangat sederhana, tanya saja para chef Jepang berapa lama mereka harus belajar mendalami seni sashimi ini. Selain keahlian menggunakan pisau (beserta kecap asin Jepang dan wasabi tentunya), sashimi tidak membutuhkan proses masak atau alat masak yang terlalu canggih, karena daging ikan segar ini sudah enak apa adanya. Saya rasa, ini adalah pesan yang ingin disampaikan Gilles Marx dan Olivier Oddos di acara kolaborasi Amuz pada 7-9 Februari 2018.

When the chef owner of one of the best fine dining restaurant in Indonesia collaborate with a Michelin Star Guest Chef, naturally I’d expect something extravagant. However, Gilles Marx and Olivier Oddos reminded me the basic thing that is often overlooked in the flashy fine dining scene.

Most of the times, beginner musicians are obssessed by flashy techniques (guitar’s right hand tapping or drum’s double pedal) while ignoring their raison d’etre: to serve the song. Of course, Ringo Starr can play complicated part in “A Day in The Life”, but when he played Beatles’ gentler songs such as “Here There and Everywhere”, he didn’t go over the top, simply because the song didn’t require it.

The same thing happens in fine dining scene. I won’t blame you if you think that this scene is all about beatifully plated food in much smaller portion, decorated with excessive edible flower, and fancy ingredients such as foei gras and caviar. However, some chefs believe that their main goal is to serve ingredients, especially French and Japanese chefs. Sashimi is a perfect example. Even though serving raw sliced fish may looked dead simple, ask any Japanese chefs how much time needed to learn the art of sashimi. Apart from the knife expertise (along with shoyu and wasabi, of course), it involves no fancy cooking method or equipments, simply because the fresh raw fish is good as it is. I guess this is the message that Gilles Marx and Olivier Oddos were trying to convey in Amuz’s collaboration event in February 7th -9th 2018.

Seorang pemuda tampak kesulitan dalam menyalakan api kompor Perancis Lacanche, di Pantry Magic. “Bisa bantu saya? Sepertinya kompor ini terlalu canggih buat saya,” ia tertawa. Tidak membutuhkan waktu lama baginya untuk terbiasa dengan perlengkapan canggih ini untuk membuat tuile untuk resepnya Ayam Base Genep.

Beberapa orang tertarik mendalami dunia medis, beberapa juga tertarik mendalami kuliner, namun sangat sedikit yang mendalami keduanya. Meski masih muda, mahasiswa Kedokteran semester 7, Leonardus Eric atau dikenal juga dengan nama Eric KHM, ternyata juga sibuk merintis Jamuan, bisnis private diningnya. Sebagai tambahan, pemuda berusia 21 tahun ini juga terlibat dalam setiap langkah kreasi menu, mulai dari membuat konsep, memasak, styling, hingga membuat video dan foto dari masakannya. Anda bisa melihat hasil karyanya di Instagram Jamuan, @jamuan. “Aktivitas saya lumayan sibuk, saya pergi kuliah setiap jam 7 pagi hingga 3 sore, setelah itu saya ada meeting, terkadang saya hanya tidur selama 3 jam,” kata Eric.

Melihat passionnya di bidang masak, kami berasumsi bahwa pilihannya untuk kuliah Kedokteran berasal dari orang tuanya. Namun ternyata kami salah. “Ini adalah pilihan saya sendiri, saya tidak bisa memilih salah satunya, mungkin saya tipe orang yang suka banyak hal. Namun saya ingin menjadi wiraswasta, saya bercita-cita untuk memiliki grup yang menggabungkan unsur medis dan F&B, saya sudah menemukan irisan untuk membuat keduanya bisa berjalan beriringan,” katanya.

Jamuan adalah wadah untuk memamerkan kecintaan Eric pada masakan lokal. Eric juga merupakan anggota ACMI (Aku Cinta Masakan Indonesia) muda, komunitas turunan dari ACMI dengan anggota yang lebih muda, lebih tepatnya, di bawah 24. “Generasi muda tidak banyak tahu tentang masakan Indonesia. Sebetulnya masakan Indonesia itu sangat luas, setiap daerah memiliki rasa khasnya sendiri, dan semuany enak. Kita juga punya begitu banyak bahan baku, kita bisa menggunakan semua bagian tanaman mulai dari rimpang, akar, daun, batang, hingga bunganya. Saya berusaha untuk memperkenalkan masakan Indonesia kepada dunia,” tambahnya.

A young boy was struggling to turn on the French stove, Lacanche in Pantry Magic. “Can I get any help? It’s too sophisticated for me,” he laughed. It doesn’t take too long for him to be accustomed to this fancy piece of equipment as he trying to make the tuile for his recipe Ayam Base Genep.

Some people are into medical, some are into culinary, but very few decided to
learn both. Despite of his young age, the 7th semester medical student, Leonardus Eric, also known as Eric KHM, is also busy running Jamuan, his own private dining brand. In addition, the 21 years old boy also involves in every part of the menu creation, from concepting, cooking, styling, to taking pictures and videos of his own creation. You can see his creations in Jamuan’s Instagram @jamuan. “It’s quite busy, I go to college on 7.00 am to 3.00 pm, after that I’ll have meetings, sometimes I only have 3 hours to sleep,” said Eric.

Cooking has become a hobby for Eric from childhood. “I love reading recipe books, watching the cooking reality shows. Most of all, I love to come to places to learn traditional recipes from the local people to get the true authentic taste. For the past 3-4 years, things are getting more serious, now I know what want to do in this industry,” he said.

Seeing his passion in cooking, we assume that his choice of becoming a medical student came from his parents. Apparently, we are wrong. “Its my own choice, I can’t choose only one, perhaps because I love many things. However, I love being an entrepreneur, I have a dream of having my own group that combines medical and F&B one day, I’ve found a way to make synergy for both of them,” said Eric.

Jamuan is the showcase of Eric’s love to local produce. In fact, Eric is a member of young ACMI (Aku Cinta Masakan Indonesia), a sub community under the actual ACMI, which has younger member, under 24 to be specific. “The younger generations don’t understand much about Indonesian food. Actually, Indonesian food is very big, each region has different local taste, and they are all good. We also have so many ingredients, we can use everything from the plants, from the rhizome, root, leaf, trunk, to the flower. I’m trying to bring the local cuisine to the world,” he said.

Even though he’s an Indonesian Man in New York, Richie Budiharto Pratadaja is not a legal alien (Sting, anyone?), in fact the Indonesian chocolatier is the runner up for 2017’s Pastry Chef of the Year, USA.

It’s been numerous times we cover expatriate chefs in Indonesia, this time we do the other way around. However, with relatively low culture of producing and consuming real chocolate, finding a brilliant Indonesian chocolatier abroad is quite a challenge, until we found Richie Budiharto Pratadaja, Indonesian chocolatier who works in FIKA, New York.

What was your childhood dream job? Was it chocolatier?
No, actually I wanted to be a painter.

What made you interested in chocolate, compared to other pastry products?
The aroma, the taste, the silky texture and everything about chocolate, I love it! I think chocolate is a versatile ingredient. We can use chocolate in both solid or fluid forms to create things like cake, cream, and ,also showpieces or sculptures.

What’s your favorite chocolate product?
My favorite is making bonbons. From designing the molds, making the chocolate shell, filling, to sealing the bonbon, trained skills are required. The surface of the bonbon has to be glossy after it was unmolded, the thickness of the shell and sealing has to be appropriate, and most importantly, the taste of the filling, or we usually call it ganache.

If you’re serious into chocolate, why did you choose USA? Any plans to return to Indonesia?
Well, it doesn’t have to be USA, other countries in Europe were just as good. I picked USA, specifically New York because in this city, I was trained both in the workplace and outside of it. The competition of food industry here is really tough. Outside workplace, art is part of our daily life, it’s everywhere. I have a plan to return to Indonesia in the next few years.

Please tell us your daily activities in Fika.
I’m a chocolatier in FIKA, New York. I run the production line all day, also supervising other staffs to ensure that every product meets the company’s standard. I’m also in charge of ordering the ingredients, product inventory, quality control, and food safety training.

Can you explain the market situation in USA? Is the bean to bar movement start to gain popularity there?
The market of chocolate in America is growing every year because many consumers are giving high appreciation to the history, origin and the production technique of chocolate. Bean to bar is becoming more popular in the past few years. Many confectioners also started to produce their own cacao from bean to bar in small scale, including myself.

In Indonesia, it’s easy to find a patissier, however, a different story with chocolatier. It’s a rare occupation here. According to you, how far is the difference of chocolate industry in Indonesia and USA?
The difference would be on the number of customers who give high appreciation to artisan chocolate in Indonesia is not as many as in USA. Pastry is a basic thing learned in culinary schools, but chocolate is specialization, just like sugar, bread and cake. In New York, chocolate is an old tradition that is already developed; many people all around the world stay here, especially Europeans, who are in fact the highest chocolate consumers of the world. However, recently I saw many highly talented Indonesia chocolatiers or pastry chefs in Instagram.

Regarding the issue of compound vs couverture, how do you see it?
As a chocolatier, I definitely opt for couverture because of the higher quality ingredients involved in it, from the cacao bean, sugar, soy lecithin, and sometimes vanilla, compared to compound which use vegetable fat. The melting point of cocoa butter is different to vegetable fat, the melting behavior in mouth is very different.

In any chocolate competitions, praline is mandatory, however, in Indonesia, praline is not popular, and if you see someone offer it, usually the quality is not very good. What do you say?
To produce praline, you need advanced skills. I would say that in our country, we don’t have too many people learn about chocolate. However, from my observation in Instagram, it seems that the number is escalating.

Would you share your experience in chocolate competition?
In 2017, I was the runner up of Pastry Chef of the year USA. The theme of the competition is based on 4 world’s famous painters: Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dali. Each contestant may choose one of those four. I had to make 1 showpiece, 6 kinds of petit gateaux (3 chocolate and 3 fruit based), and a plated dessert. For the showpiece, I opted for Dali (surrealism), 3 chocolate-based gateaux inspired from Picasso (shape), 3 fruit-based gateaux from Marc Chagall (color), and plated dessert from Van Gogh (texture).
Some components might be prepared in advance; the rest should be assembled on the competition day in only 3 hours. The critics from world’s leading chefs and judges were important lessons for me to prepare for the next competition.

What’s the signature characteristic of your products?
Flavor is essential. Presentation is also important, like people always say you eat with your eyes first. I love using ingredients such as nuts, fruits, and whiskey.

Last one, any message to young chocolatiers?
Determination and focus!

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As a seasoned food blogger-cum-food stylist, Natasha Victoria Lucas has completely delved into the industry passionately and professionally. In our Reinvent segment this issue, Natasha shared Passion about her journey of discovery and why she fell in love with one of our country’s most renown dishes - Soto Ayam Lamongan!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself before you finally found your real passion?
I studied journalism during college and my dream was to actually become a writer for a lifestyle magazine. After a brief spell at a local TV station for internship, apparently there was no opening yet around that time. I had to work for a totally different industry as an event manager for a shoe company and also as a music teacher.
However, born in a foodie family, for years we often go out to try new restaurants around Jakarta and my dad also apparently has a knack with cooking - which quite surprisingly, better than my mom! Partly inspired by that and while waiting for the long-awaited opportunity, I decided to start my blog anyway - The Yummy Traveler in 2010.
Being a blogger enables me to know more about the F&B industry and I became curious about the innovative dishes that restaurants came up with. That drives me to learn more about cooking. I also became fascinated with photography and styling at the same time, which I decided to choose the latter as you can see today.

How was it for you in your early days as a food stylist?
Several years ago, food stylists were still scarce in Jakarta and I was already pursuing it as a hobby. A friend of mine one time asked me to collaborate for this food photography project with a renowned frozen yogurt company - seeing that I am fond with food styling. I almost had cold feet but my friend encouraged me to try anyway. Long story short, it was my most memorable first-time ever doing a professional food styling!

How would you describe your day-to-day?
My work is ranging from food styling for restaurants to managing a social media team for several clients from mostly F&B industry. One time I was also appointed as the TV host for a culinary show named after my own blog. During my leisure time traveling, I always find time to collect more props for my food photography projects. Now I have suitcases of them! Finally I’m doing a collaboration with a partner for our second book project - Top Tables.

Can you tell us a bit about the book?
Sure. It’s basically a directory about where to eat in Jakarta. On contrast with the previous Top Tables, this one will feature people from different backgrounds telling their stories about food and sharing their most favorite haunts around Jakarta.

Now that you have shared your recipe of Soto Ayam Lamongan. How did you come to like it in the beginning by the way?
I have always been a fan of soup dishes from soto to even bakso. I considered those two as my most favorite comfort food!
I started to like soto since years ago when not many good soto ayam joints can be found in Jakarta other than soto Betawi. Until one day I discovered a really good hawker that sells soto Lamongan which I’d visit from time to time and it’s located in front of the previous site of Hermina hospital around Sunter area, north of Jakarta.

What’s the best thing about your favorite soto there when compared with others?
I think it’s because of my personal preferences. I like their version of clearer and lighter soup. I have been a patron of their soto ayam for years and usually frequented it with my sister. The owner knows us really well and keeps on speaking in Javanese despite us not actually understand what he says.
Anyway, whenever we came, he knew by heart that we prefer thigh’s meat, added with chicken livers and the most important part of Soto Lamongan - a lot of koya. Finally, no kecap manis added. It was unfortunate however that I had moved to another part of Jakarta since quite some time now and Hermina hospital had also moved to a new location as well. I do really hope they’re still around.

Care to tell us about your version of soto ayam here?
I cooked it with more or less having similar profiles compared with my favorite soto ayam Lamongan. As you can see, I tried to present it in a modern way as well.
I became more passionate about food presentations than ever since Indonesian food really deserves to be more well-known on international level. I knew it by heart our cuisine has many advantages even when compared with the already-established Western or Japanese food. I really hope that one day my expertise could contribute for that.

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Tahukah Anda bahwa kebahagiaan sebetulnya bisa diproduksi? Christophe Morel mengetahuinya. Morel adalah seorang master chocolatier asal Perancis yang memutuskan untuk pindah dan memulai bisnis di Montreal, Kanada. Di samping reputasi dan pencapaiannya yang luar biasa sebagai pemenang pertama kategori cokelat di Coupe du monde de la patisserie di Lyon, Perancis pada 2005, Morel ternyata memiliki keinginan sederhana melalui karyanya: memberi kebahagiaan pada semua orang di sekitarnya. Di tengah jadwalnya yang padat, Christophe Morel menyisihkan waktu untuk membagikan pengetahuannya mengenai cokelat secara eksklusif pada Passion Media.

Do you know that happiness can be manufactured? Well, Christophe Morel do.

Christophe Morel, is a French master chocolatier who decided to open his business in Montreal, Canada. Despite of his reputation and crowning achievement as the first prize winner for chocolate at the Coupe du monde de la patisserie in Lyon, France 2005, Morel has simple objective through his craft: to give pleasure to everyone around him. In the middle of his tight schedule, Christophe Morel managed to spare some time to share his knowledge about chocolate, exclusively for Passion Media.

Thomas Pellegrini dari CFF mengundang para chef dari hotel¬-hotel berbintang, restoran dan distributor, untuk memperkenalkan cokelatValrhona dari Jembrana, Bali kepada para wisatawan pada acara “Cuvee Bali” di Bali Culinary Pastry School, Kabupaten Tabanan. “Kegiatan `Cuvee Bali` dilakukan dalam upaya memperkenalkan keunggulan produk cokelat yang dihasilkan dari petani kakao fermentasi di bawah naungan Koperasi Kerta Semaya Samaniya, Jembrana, Bali,” kata Thomas.

Astrid Enricka Ditha, atau lebih dikenal dengan nama Acil, keluar dari pekerjannya sebagai jurnalis untuk mengejar mimpinya menjadi pengusaha. Dari sekian banyak varian masakan Indonesia dan garis keturunannya, ia memilih daerah yang tidak berhubungan dengan dirinya, semata-mata karena kecintaannya. Ketika ia membuka Ayam Tangkap AR di Ciranjang, Jakarta (2012) dan bertemu orang Aceh, biasanya ada 2 macam reaksi: senang karena ada orang yang menghargai makanan daerah khasnya, atau skeptis dan berpikir, “Anda bukan orang Aceh, terus Anda mau apakan masakan khas kami?!” Respon terakhir mirip sekali seperti reaksi orang Italia kan? Inilah hasil interview kami dengan wanita yang juga anggota ACMI (Aku Cinta Masakan Indonesia).

Thanks to Astrid Enricka Dhita, the daring, in-your-face Ayam Tangkap from Aceh is becoming more playful

Astrid Enricka Dhita, also known as Acil, quitted her job as journalist to pursue her dream to become an entrepreneur. Among many of Indonesian vast cuisine and her heritage, she chose a region that’s not related to her, solely because of love. When she opened Ayam Tangkap AR in Ciranjang, Jakarta (2012) and met the Aceh people, there are 2 kind of reaction: happy because they find a person who appreciate their cultural heritage, or skeptical and think, “you don’t come from Aceh, what the hell did you do with my cuisine!?” The last one sounds very much like some Italians, right? Here’s our interview with the woman who’s also a member of ACMI (Aku Cinta Masakan Indonesia).

After 40 years of success story and multiple awards, Convotherm is offering new level of energy efficiency.

In the beginning there was an idea: Professional chefs in commercial kitchens need specialized technology! With this in mind, Frank Dittmann and Werner Schwarzbäcker founded the Convotherm company on 1 July 1976. Now, chefs the world over know and appreciate Convotherm’s highly specialized combi steamers, which make it possible to prepare virtually any type of food quickly, gently and in first-class quality.

There are many culinary classes out there, but not all of them teaching the basic of professional cooking technique that is used everywhere all around the world.

Most of the cooking classes in Indonesia is targeted for hobbyist. However, when you’re serious to build career in this industry, you have to master the proper basic so you can communicate with any chefs all around the world. Maison Bleu in Kelapa Gading has 3 programs of Professional Cooking: Basic, Intermediate, and Advance. They also have Professional Baking & Pastry, Junior Course, and Short Course.

Maison Bleu was found by Hendry Ramaly Hutama (Chef Hendry), a gradute of Le Cordon Bleu Pasadena, Caliornia USA, with over 15 years experience in US, Indonesia, and Malaysia culinary industry. Chef Hendry had also worked in some Michelin star restaurants, one of them is Spago, where he worked under the famous celebrity Chef Wolfgang Puck. Aside from teaching, Chef Hendry is also known as an F&B consultant for various restaurants. One of the reason why he started his own culinary school, is his idealism the proper way of handling the food.

“Even in 5 star hotels, we still have many who use chicken powder that contains MSG. My idealism is, when the guest pay more for food, we need to do it the proper way. What’s the point for guest to pay big amount if they are served with MSG? Perhaps the use of MSG is tolerable for Indonesian food, but in European culinary, there’s no place for it or any chicken powder,” explained Chef Hendry.

The Basic Professional Cooking Program consists of 30 classes. On the first day, the students are learning about the food safety, how to ignite the gas stove, how to clean kitchen equipments and tools, the use of various cutting boards. On the second to 15th day, they are introduced to 5 mother sauces, thickening agent, cooking technique and method, introduction to carbohydrate and herbs such as rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage, etc.

On the 16th to 30th day, Maison Bleu focuses on 6 components in presentation: protein, carbohydrate, vegetable, sauce, garnish, and negative space. Most of the curriculum in Maison Bleu are adopted from Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena.

The Intermediate Class consist of 30 meetings. This time, the students are invited to learn 15 style of the most influential culinary countries, such as French, Portugal, South Africa, Japan, China etc. On the Advance Class, the students is challenged to do fusion, for example to combine the concept of Mediterranean and French Classic on poultry product. “They are assigned to make recipe using Rp 250.000, how many portion can they produce? How the the percentage of food cost? The Advance Class is more into the practical directions,” said Chef Hendry.

Most of Maison Bleu’s students want to build career in the industry, however there are some who prepare themselves before taking culinary courses abroad. We also see many restaurant owners here who want to expand their culinary knowledge.

With state of the art equipment and facilities, the students are expected to master the basic of professional cookin, an international standard so whenever they are placed all around the world, they can speak the common “language”.

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Alessandro Liberatori mendiskusikan hubungan ekonomi Indonesia dan Italia, rencana untuk memperkenalkan kembali citra Italia, dan bahasan favoritnya, makanan! Ketika Anda mendengar nama “Italia”, ada beberapa hal yang terbayang, seperti: fashion, produk kulit, sepakbola, dan tentu saja, makanan, terutama pizza dan pasta. Namun, setelah berbincang dengan Alessandro Liberatori, Komisioner Italian Trade Agency’s (ITA), kami sadar bahwa kita baru saja mengenal permukaan luar Italia. Kami bahkan melihatnya sebagai pencerahan, sebagaimana Indonesia yang tidak hanya sebatas batik, Rendang, Nasi Goreng dan Bali.

When you heard the name “Italy”, there are some things come to mind, such as: fashion, leather, football, and of course, food, especially pizza and pasta. However, after talking to Alessandro Liberatori, the Italian Trade Agency’s (ITA) Commissioner, we found out that we barely scratch the surface of what Italy is all about. Actually, it’s a revelation, just as Indonesian is not just about batik, Rendang, Nasi Goreng, and Bali.

Desember ini, Pacific Restaurant and Lounge di The Ritz-Carlton Jakarta, Pacific Place telah bertransformasi menjadi restoran yang menawarkan pengalaman bersantap yang baru. Terletak di lantai 6, PASOLA adalah restoran all-day dining yang menyajikan masakan internasional dengan menggunakan bahan baku lokal dari Indonesia. Nama Pasola sendiri merupakan serangkaian upacara tradisional dari Sumba untuk mengungkapkan rasa terima kasih terhadap panen yang berlimpah. Logo PASOLA terdiri dari lima elemen yaitu teratai, ikan koi, padi, sinar matahari dan tombak yang mencerminkan semangat, kegigihan, kemakmuran dan kemenangan.

Potato Head Family mempersembahkan menu dessert baru melalui Attarine Jakarta. Restoran yang dikenal dengan keunikannya sebagai tempat yang menyajikan comfort food secara modern dan homestyle ini secara konstan menyelenggarakan dining event dan kolaborasi kreatif. Attarine menampilkan produk dessert terbarunya melalui kreasi Chef Aditya Muskita dan timnya mengikuti sukses dari peluncuran grand new menu Attarine yang sukses pada Juli 2017.

America might has popular fastfood chains such as McD, KFC and Pizza Hut, but Indonesia has its own fastfood: Padang restaurant. Food trends may come and go, but Padang food is here to stay. Among all of the leading Padang restaurant names, Marco Padang might be the only one that focuses in serving home style Padang cuisine in a modern way in malls. Since its inception in Setiabudi One on 2009, Marco Padang already has 6 outlets in leading malls in Jakarta.

PT. Bungasari Flour Mills menggelar kunjungan pabrik yang berlokasi di Kawasan Industri Krakatau, Cilegon, Banten. Pada kesempatan ini para peserta dapat melihat langsung pabrik terigu dengan fasilitas paling modern yang memiliki teknologi flour blending, sistem yang menjadi unggulan Bungasari sejak berdiri pada ahun 2012.

In the midst of the declining buying power and import difficulties, Sababay Winery rises sky high.

Ronald Prasanto, the owner of Kopi Pak Wawan jokingly called the man as “certified drunkard”. However, until today, there has been no one in Indonesia that has worked in the wine industry from upstream to downstream like Yohan Handoyo, the COO of Sababay Winery. Passion met Yohan in his old working place Decanter, Kuningan and talked about the current situation for local wine industry.

Keraton at the Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Jakarta, menunjuk seorang General Manager baru. Tentunya, sebagai majalah F&B, biasanya Passion tidak akan meliput General Manager. Namun kami berubah pikiran ketika kami mendengar kabar mengenai Cora Stuart, General Manager baru Keraton, satu dari sedikit General Manager wanita di industri ini, ia juga berhasil mendapat gelar “The Best General Manager” oleh majalah Hotelier Middle East di 2009. Berikut interview kami dengan wanita Singapura pecinta olahraga dan pola hidup sehat.

After years of living in a man’s world, Cora Stuart tells us how it feels to be one of the few General Managers in hotel industry and her addiction.

Keraton at the Plaza, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Jakarta has just appointed a new General Manager. And of course, as an F&B magazine, normally Passion wouldn’t cover General Managers. But we changed our mind when we heard about Cora Stuart, Keraton’s new General Manager, one of the few female General Managers in the industry who managed to get the title of “The Best General Manager” by Hotelier Middle East Magazine in 2009. The curiousity to get to know more on her personality led us to an up close and personal session of interview with the Singaporean woman who also is a very sportsperson and healthy living enthusiast.

We talk with Rajawali Suriadiredja about his passion for Japanese cuisine and the importance of creating a strong culture for culinary establishments, as evident in his F&B management company, the Kaminari Group.

Do tell us about your restaurants and their concepts.
I’ve always liked the concept of live interaction between the guest and the kitchen in Japanese food culture. Thus, Rayjin Teppanyaki was born four years ago. After that, Kajin was created, an izakaya with contemporary sushi creation and a wide range of alcohol beverages. Then, I redesigned Dahana, which is located in the same compound. It offers a wide selection of tasty and comfortable Japanese home-cooked meals. Next, Fujin was opened in Jakarta. It is similar with Rayjin but with an emphasis on fine whiskey and refined small bites. There is also Jin Jin in Denpasar, a donburi restaurant created for the local market. Currently, we are developing Musubi in Canggu. It is going to offer a new take on brunch with Japanese influence. All of them have their own characters but the Japanese cuisine and culture are prevalent in their concept and food. We manage all of the restaurants under Kaminari Group.

And, how does Kaminari Group plays its part?
Kaminari Group was founded by I Gede Putu Banny Parasuth and me. Our expertise is in managing Japanese culinary establishment. From creating the right concept to managing the restaurant, we work closely with our shareholder and partner to maintain the day-to-day operation. Currently, we are based in Bali and Jakarta.

It is not easy to make a breakthrough in F&B Industry, especially in Bali and Jakarta. What is your recipe for success?
F&B are thick in our blood. We don’t gamble. We know exactly what we are doing; we know what works and what doesn’t work. We know how to make people happy. Our aim is to continue the good work that we have been doing so far and push the standard. Bali and Jakarta have a high standard and we need to keep it up and elevate it further. I don’t think we can afford to play it safe anymore. In Bali, for instance, we have international restaurateurs opening new restaurants all over the places and that’s our competition. I learned from my Japanese heritage and work experience on the importance of work ethics. That is what we are trying to instill in our team: discipline, hospitality, hard work, leadership, and to continuously motivate each and every individual to grow and evolve.

How would you like the group to be known for?
I want us to be known as a leading F&B group for Japanese cuisine. There is a wide range of Japanese cuisine and I would like to introduce them to our market. I was raised in two cultures and I think that’s how we learn to balance our flavour. Indonesian palate needs stronger flavour and we combine them with the root of Japanese cuisine which lies in using good quality ingredients, details, and solid presentation.
I have learned that it is important to create a specific culture for a restaurant, the way that we do our things. Everything from the food, down to the smallest details of service, that what separates you from the others. I want when people go to our restaurants, they go not just for the food but also to experience the service and the ambience, to be transformed to another culture.

Di tengah isu disintegrasi negara ini, kita bisa belajar banyak soal Bhinneka Tunggal Ika dari leluhur melalui, percaya atau tidak, Soto Tauto. Setelah melihat kembali majalah kami selama 3 edisi, kami merasa bahwa kami tidak cukup banyak mengekspos makanan tradisional secara lebih mendalam. Padahal Indonesia memiliki kebudayaan kuliner yang sangat kaya dan mulai menjadi pusat perhatian dunia. 

Oleh sebab itu, pada edisi ini kami menantang Chef Budi Lee yang berasal dari Pekalongan untuk menginterpretasikan secara modern salah satu hidangan khas kampung halamannya, Soto Tauto. Budi Lee sendiri merupakan seorang mantan ketua YCCI (Young Chef Club Indonesia) dan pernah terlibat mendirikan restoran Munchies di Jakarta. Sekarang ia menikmati profesinya sebagai konsultan F&B sekaligus berjualan rendang online dengan nama Babi Baper (Rendang Babi Pelepas Rindu).

In the middle of the nation’s issue of disintegration, we can learn a lot about unity in diversity from our ancestors through, believe it or not, Soto Tauto.

After reviewing our magazine for the past 3 issues, we felt that we didn’t expose much of the traditional food in a deeper perspective. In fact, Indonesia has very rich culinary culture and started to take the center stage in the world’s gastronomy stage.

Therefore, in this issue, we challenge Chef Budi Lee, a true Pekalongan man to interpret his hometown’s specialty, Soto Tauto, in a modern way. Budi Lee is the former President of YCCI (Young Chef Club Indonesia), involved in founding the restaurant Munchies in Jakarta. Now, he’s enjoying his life as F&B consultant, and also selling online rendang with the name Babi Baper (Babi Pelepas Rindu).

If you, like us, love a good slab of meat then perhaps it’s high time we make our visit to Mercure Jakarta Sabang throughout September and October as the hotel is celebrating one of its beloved promo where guests can indulge in dining with good quality Wagyu, properly marbled and rich in Omega 3 and Omega 6.

TULIP Chocolate kembali menggelar Grand Baking Demo yang ditujukan kepada seluruh pelanggan setia produk TULIP Chocolate wilayah Jawa Timur.Bertempat di Grand Ballroom Shangrila Hotel Surabaya pada tanggal 20 Juli 2017, Grand Baking Demo Ini dibawakan oleh Chef Benty Diwansyah dan tim.Produk TULIP chocolate jenis Couverture unggulan seperti TULIP Easimelt HESTIA, KRAKATOA dan AURA menjadi fokus dalam Grand Baking Demo kali ini.

Siapa yang tidak kenal dengan Nasi Goreng? Masakan lezat ini masih menjadi makanan favorit masyarakat Indonesia. Tidak hanya di Indonesia, Nasi goreng juga dikenal di berbagai negara dengan varian yang beragam, baik dalam segi penyajian maupun bumbu-bumbu yang cukup bervariasi. Masih tingginya minat masyarakat Indonesia terhadap nasi goreng membuat para pelaku industri kuliner semakin kreatif berinovasi mengembangkan cita rasa dan cara penyajian nasi goreng.

ChefMate turut hadir meramaikan East Food 9-12 Agustus 2017 di Surabaya dengan memperkenalkan beberapa produk terbarunya. “Pada pameran ini kami lebih berfokus pada Chocolate Drink ChefMate. Ini adalah sejenis premix berisi cokelat bubuk, gula, dan krim sehingga untuk meminumnya, kita hanya tinggal menyeduh dengan air panas. Kami juga selalu mengunggulkan kualitas dan standarisasi rasa, sehingga rasanya konsisten. Aplikasi produk ini bisa untuk di rumah, café, atau untuk campuran dalam membuat resep sendiri. Selain itu kami juga fokus memperkenalkan berbagai varian rasa pasta kami seperti nanas, stroberi dan green tea,” kata Fernando, Brand Development Head PT. Ares Kusuma Raya, induk perusahaan ChefMate.

Anantara Uluwatu Bali Resort is celebrating Indonesia Independence Day with variety of celebrations. In addition of lots of flag-waving, parades and other celebration, look at events happening at our resort.

To commemorate the 72nd Anniversary of Indonesia Independence Day on the 17th of August 2017, Raffles Jakarta presents the “Indonesian Spice Journey” at Arts Café by Raffles in collaboration with guest Chef, Chef Petty Elliott.

The Park Lane has debuted its new arrival experience and chic refurbished lobby on May 30th 2017, which offers guests an engaging and modern space to begin their stay. The newly launched lobby provides guests and locals alike a space to spark conversations and stimulate thoughts through physical and personal interaction.

Salon Culinaire is definitely one of the most prestigious competitions in Indonesia.

Hotel Grand Mercure Kemayoran will be having “Ramadhan Festive”, special package to accommodate the usual Ramadhan demands such as, fast-breaking menus, meetings, to special rooms. The hotel will also hold “Ramadhan Photo Corner” in the lobby to add the fun Ramadhan experience with workmates, family and friends.

Polytechnic International Bali (PIB) is an international standard institution of higher education offering diploma programs in culinary arts, hospitality, and MICE. PIB is designed to be world class learning center through excellent diploma programs with curriculums incorporating character building, culture preservation, while producing excellent graduates, equipped with leadership and entrepreneurship skills, ready for professional career as well as to be entrepreneur in their field of study.

Experience the holy month of Ramadhan at Raffles Jakarta, where blessing and celebration is brought to the next level. Arts Café by Raffles Indulge in the taste of Turkey closer to you by our extensive variety of mouth-watering dishes by Chef Hüsnü Özcan from Raffles Istanbul at Arts Café by Raffles. Chef Özcan displays his creativity with his signature dishes such as Hünkar Begendi, Bulgur Pilavii, Dalyan Kofte and Manti. Additionally, enjoy in the wide range of exquisite Indonesian, and Middle Eastern delicacies to help break your fast in style. Our first seating starts from 5:45 PM to 8:30 PM at IDR 398,000++, and the second seating starts from 8:30 PM to 10:30 PM at IDR 198,000++ per person.

More than just endorsing a brand, Mandif M. Warokka also shares the same vision with Tokusen Wagyu Beef: to support the local product. In Food Hotel Indonesia, April 5-8th 2017, Mandif created 3 dishes: Dry Aged Tokusen Wagyu Eye Beef Fillet Tartar, Seared Tilapia, and Tenderloin Steak. Mandif is known for his obsession with local produce, and even though the name sounds very Japanese, actually Tokusen’s wagyu cattles are raised in Indonesia.

Specialty coffee at home

We understand, it’s hard to go back to regular mass produced ground coffee once you’re in love with specialty coffee. When you can’t skip a single without a cup, why don’t make it yourself at home? With manual brew, you have the ability to control every variable in the brewing process to create a cup that’s uniquely yours.

Victoria Arduino solves the problem of barista’s inconsistency in with Black Eagle’s Gravitech

Victoria Arduino solves the problem of barista’s inconsistency in with Black Eagle’s Gravitech Gravimetric technology is just that: it guarantees a perfect espresso coffee made with maximum precision by ensuring total control at all stages of extraction. The barista just has to set the weight of the liquid in the cup for each blend. It is not atechnology to explore, it’s a system that can instantly sole problems.

What appeared to be a disadvantage for the 2013 vintage – late budding and flowering – proved to be a major advantage thanks to a warm summer and month of September offering textbook conditions for harvesting, with cool temperatures but a prevalence of sunny weather. This resulted in slow but complete ripening with great balance and a delightful aromatic quality, which we like to define as “Elegance”. Ornellaia 2013, with its dense, vibrant colour, has a nose of  splendid aromatic complexity built around a limpid and brilliant fruitiness, underscored by refined spicy and balsamic notes. The mouth develops vibrant and complex fruity nuances.