In the land of naan, Poppy plants the seed for culinary school
Amina Agha teaches students recipes that incorporate food from all over the world.
KARACHI:
With an apron thrown over her white, button-down shirt with its sleeves rolled up, food connoisseur Amina Agha, aka Poppy, paces up and down her kitchen. She keeps a vigilant eye on her students as they work on that day’s agenda — Thai food that fills the air with the aroma of herbs and soya sauce.
Poppy’s Culinary Institute (PCI) is on the second floor of Labels on Khayaban-e-Shamsheer. Unlike some cooking classes, Poppy’s lessons have a very limited number of students. “I don’t teach more than three students per class. I had the option of running a factory, but that means I couldn’t give them as much attention as they need,” Poppy says brightly, dipping her spoon into her student’s wok to taste the fragrant chilli chicken. Each student is assigned a separate stove. She believes the concept of cooking while students watch defeats the purpose of allowing them to experience what goes into the making of different cuisine. “It takes away the pride they feel when cooking themselves”.
The students ribbon egg into rice noodles to finish off the Pad Thai and Poppy dives in to mix it all in, all the while complimenting the girls. “Anam is in the intensive programme at PCI,” she says proudly.
Poppy’s classes also aim at career development, she connects her students to business owners and those involved with hotel management. Anam will go on to work with clients interested in starting restaurant businesses, she adds.
Like many who enjoy cooking, Poppy doesn’t eat the food she prepares. “There’s no mystery if I’m cooking it!” she laughs, inspecting the green papaya salad, peanut sauce, Pad Thai and chilli chicken that her students have arranged on a platter.
Poppy discovered her love for cooking when she was eight years old. Inspired by her grandmother’s chef, she experimented with food all through boarding school and college. “When I told my family I wanted to go a culinary school after my A’ Levels, they were shocked. They didn’t understand why I wanted to become a khansaama (cook), and I wasn’t allowed to pursue it.”
She studied media technology in London and spent her spare time cooking. Poppy says her travels within Europe fuelled her culinary experiments. She started a catering business, but stopped soon after. “I hated it. When a client told me ‘Aap iss mein thora ketchup daal dein’ [put some ketchup in this], I had flames coming out of my nostrils,” says Poppy. However, she doesn’t blame the client for her request because she feels Pakistanis have not yet developed the palate for certain flavours.
Poppy now hosts the cooking show ‘A Taste of Fusion’ on Dawn News and has been running PCI for nearly three months. “The PCI concept is three years old,” says Poppy. It was brought together by Labels’ owner Zahir Rahimtoola. “Zahir is a great connoisseur of food himself. We really bonded and decided to go for it.”
PCI currently has eight students. Poppy says she may take on a few more but the number will not exceed 14. She teaches a planned menu ranging from French and Lebanese food to the more American burgers and steaks. She takes her students from basic chopping and slicing techniques to more intensive training. After that, they can even train others or start their own business.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2011.
With an apron thrown over her white, button-down shirt with its sleeves rolled up, food connoisseur Amina Agha, aka Poppy, paces up and down her kitchen. She keeps a vigilant eye on her students as they work on that day’s agenda — Thai food that fills the air with the aroma of herbs and soya sauce.
Poppy’s Culinary Institute (PCI) is on the second floor of Labels on Khayaban-e-Shamsheer. Unlike some cooking classes, Poppy’s lessons have a very limited number of students. “I don’t teach more than three students per class. I had the option of running a factory, but that means I couldn’t give them as much attention as they need,” Poppy says brightly, dipping her spoon into her student’s wok to taste the fragrant chilli chicken. Each student is assigned a separate stove. She believes the concept of cooking while students watch defeats the purpose of allowing them to experience what goes into the making of different cuisine. “It takes away the pride they feel when cooking themselves”.
The students ribbon egg into rice noodles to finish off the Pad Thai and Poppy dives in to mix it all in, all the while complimenting the girls. “Anam is in the intensive programme at PCI,” she says proudly.
Poppy’s classes also aim at career development, she connects her students to business owners and those involved with hotel management. Anam will go on to work with clients interested in starting restaurant businesses, she adds.
Like many who enjoy cooking, Poppy doesn’t eat the food she prepares. “There’s no mystery if I’m cooking it!” she laughs, inspecting the green papaya salad, peanut sauce, Pad Thai and chilli chicken that her students have arranged on a platter.
Poppy discovered her love for cooking when she was eight years old. Inspired by her grandmother’s chef, she experimented with food all through boarding school and college. “When I told my family I wanted to go a culinary school after my A’ Levels, they were shocked. They didn’t understand why I wanted to become a khansaama (cook), and I wasn’t allowed to pursue it.”
She studied media technology in London and spent her spare time cooking. Poppy says her travels within Europe fuelled her culinary experiments. She started a catering business, but stopped soon after. “I hated it. When a client told me ‘Aap iss mein thora ketchup daal dein’ [put some ketchup in this], I had flames coming out of my nostrils,” says Poppy. However, she doesn’t blame the client for her request because she feels Pakistanis have not yet developed the palate for certain flavours.
Poppy now hosts the cooking show ‘A Taste of Fusion’ on Dawn News and has been running PCI for nearly three months. “The PCI concept is three years old,” says Poppy. It was brought together by Labels’ owner Zahir Rahimtoola. “Zahir is a great connoisseur of food himself. We really bonded and decided to go for it.”
PCI currently has eight students. Poppy says she may take on a few more but the number will not exceed 14. She teaches a planned menu ranging from French and Lebanese food to the more American burgers and steaks. She takes her students from basic chopping and slicing techniques to more intensive training. After that, they can even train others or start their own business.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 1st, 2011.