Chop, dice, slice, simmer, boil inside a professional kitchen

From bread-making to cooking the perfect three-course meal, students learn the nitty-gritty details of working inside a professional kitchen.

A cacophony of sounds fills the air inside this busy kitchen in the heart of Dubai Knowledge Village. It can easily be confused for the kitchen of a luxury five-star restaurant but the International Centre for Culinary Arts (Icca) is a training ground for aspiring chefs.

“Don’t let the onions brown too quickly,” says a commanding voice in the midst of students. A closer look reveals a group of students learning to make French onion soup. Chef Dermot O’Flynn keeps a close watch on the students in his soup-making class.

“You have to be passionate with your ingredients,” he tells the students.

Students learn cooking at the International Centre for Culinary Arts at Dubai Knowledge Village. — KT photos by Leslie Pableo

From bread-making to cooking the perfect three-course meal, students learn the nitty-gritty details of working inside a professional kitchen.

Isabella Jardim, a former investment consultant working in South Africa, is one of the students in the soup class. She decided to let go of her career in stocks and property to become a professional chef and learn the art of cooking at Icca. “Everybody in my family is a chef and I thought it’s never too late to start. My mother and father are culinary alchemists. They are the ones who inspired me to take up cooking as a career.”

Her three-month professional programme in Dubai gives her a head start in the food business. “Dubai is quick and easy to come to. In three months, I (will) learn everything and sharpen my skills before returning to Cape Town and starting my own restaurant.”

Others like Isabella share a similar dream. Stephen Mwaura Kanuri, a 27-year-old former financial journalist from Kenya says the love for food made him leave his career. “I spent a year working as a financial journalist in Kenya before coming to Dubai and joining the chef school. The one thing that really stood out for me in my classes is the fact that my instructor tells me to talk to my food. You don’t just cook with your heart but talk to your food.”

Before coming to Dubai, Stephen also spent his spare time cooking food. “I started a small side business selling food and people really liked it. That’s when I thought about going to a cooking school to really explore the idea of becoming a chef,” says Stephen. Ask him what he enjoys the most and he is quick to appreciate the team-work between chefs inside a kitchen. “Someone makes a French onion soup, while at the same time another is baking potatoes. It all comes together on your plate piping hot and one simply cannot do it alone.”

For Sunjeh Raja, CEO of Icca, the culinary centre represents a lot of hard work. “It’s all about passion, patience and persistence. When you go to a great restaurant, you really go for the good food and these students would make all the difference when they start working,” he says.

The school also runs courses in sugar craft, gelato and a barista programme.

muaz@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE