Culinary arts: Cooking up a storm

The National Institute of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management offers an education to cooking enthusiasts

KARACHI:

Culinary arts have emerged to the fore in Pakistan as a profession that cooking enthusiasts are increasingly pivoting towards. Institutes, such as the government-owned Pakistan Institute of Tourism & Hotel Management and the College of Tourism and Hotel Management, have been efforts in the right direction. But neither of these culinary initiatives features a kitchen for students to get hands-on experience.

To offer well-rounded education and its practical application to budding cooks, the privately-run National Institute of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (NICAHM) opened its doors in June 2014.

The institute comprises a full-fledged student kitchen region, a cold kitchen and areas for baking along with classrooms for theory courses, paving the way for students to hone in on their culinary skills. “The institute has been initiated in partnership with Afzal Ahmed Siddiqui, who looks after the tourism department and I deal with the hospitality business,” says Muhammad Ameen, director operations at NICAHM.



Ameen shares that, “Poor hygiene in the local restaurant industry motivated me to take this step. This is a vast market but remains widely untapped.” He adds, “A mere two per cent of people pay heed to the business of tourism and hospitality in Pakistan, fields that are greatly ignored at the technical level.”

The areas of study, in which NICAHM offers diplomas, advanced diplomas and certificate courses, include Hotel Management, Culinary Professional Chef, Professional Pastry Chef, Food Safety and HACCP Management Programme. The first batch, which comprises 70 students, will be certified in February 2015.



Ameen says that chefs from reputable hotels coach the students in mastering authentic cuisines and the art of pastry-making. Among the visiting faculty are leading chefs who have been imparting their knowledge to the students. “Although cooking as a profession was looked down upon, it has now evolved. People who used to demotivate and tell us that we are compromising our careers by training people in culinary arts rejoice with us today,” he comments. “If we develop our skill set, we will be better placed in the global world. There is massive potential for Indian and Pakistani chefs in the United Kingdom because we are known to work hard.”

According to Ameen, the culinary field is a male-dominated sector in Pakistan, but 35 per cent of students enrolled in NICAHM are women, so progress is being made. He says, “We offer internships to our students at local hotels and promise them better job placements in the industry. Many companies have asked us for placements and we will certainly help them in the future.” Students can pay their fees on a monthly or annual basis, and the packages range between Rs8,000 and Rs200,000. In addition, a number of scholarships are offered to young achievers.

One student, who has travelled all the way from Dubai to learn the art of cooking, finds NICAHM ‘impressive’. Another student, Anila Amber, who wants to try her hand at molecular gastronomy, which explores what impact a certain food item has on the human body, is pursuing her passion for cooking at the institute.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4^th, 2014.

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