Firdaus promotes culinary arts
Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
His main activity is in the investment, banking and fund management sector. But as the bailli delegue (chairman) of the Indonesian chapter of the international gastronomic society, Chaine des Rotisseurs, Firdaus Abdullah Siddik is also committed to promoting culinary arts in Indonesia and promoting the country's rich culinary culture.
As a businessman and member of the Chaine, he travels a lot -- an activity that allows him to meet people of different backgrounds in different countries who appreciate good food and wines.
Firdaus has just been appointed as a member of the Chaine's Paris-based board of directors, which consist of 25 members from around the world.
"I had an accident when I attended my first meeting in Paris recently. I broke my ribs," said the President Commissioner of PT Rothschild Indonesia, while also pointing at his splinted arm.
The International Chaine des Rotisseurs was founded in Paris in 1950 to promote culinary arts and camaraderie. However, its history is based on a medieval tradition in France, where cooks gathered to prepare the best dishes to please French royal palates.
The Chaine, which has members in more than 100 countries around the world, consists of professionals or people in the food and wine industry and non-professionals from different backgrounds.
"Professional chefs cook the best food in order to impress their peers or future boss, while nonprofessionals like myself can enjoy the event, learn more about gastronomy and make contact with other gourmets," he said.
Firdaus joined the Chaine's Bailliage d'Indonesie in the mid 1980s. The local bailliage was set up in 1978 by Tengku Hassan from PT Unilever Indonesia and the then vice president Adam Malik.
Together with Ted Sulisto and Johny Widjaya, (known as the Committee of Three), he revived the Chaine in the 1990s after it was unofficially declared nonactive by the Paris headquarters, following the death of the founders and other problems. Firdaus was then appointed to head the Chaine's Indonesia bailliage.
"It was difficult to restart the Chaine and then the crisis hit and we decided that during the crisis, it would be inappropriate to have a lavish dinner while the country was suffering. Paris has recognized the problem we have. 1997 and 1998 were hard years," he recalled. Things started to improve in 1999 and the Chaine has since continued to develop.
The son of a diplomat, Firdaus has tasted dishes in many countries where his father was posted or as he traveled along with him. "And though I'm not a diplomat I try to do the same thing with my children. We teach them to enjoy foreign food," he said.
Firdaus was sent to a school in Switzerland where he lived with a French couple and where wines were served with every meal. There he learned about vin de table (table wine) from the owner of the house and that during special occasions, the latter would produce their special wine from the cellar. "I thus discovered and appreciated good wine," he said.
He enjoys attending gastronomic events with fellow gourmets, where delicious courses are meticulously planned by chefs and the right wines selected by experts.
"(On such occasions), we are not allowed to talk business but we do it anyway (he laughed). We enjoy the meal, the wines, the conversation and you automatically become friends with people who enjoy the same thing that you do."
He identified open-mindedness as a criteria required to foster appreciation of the aroma, the textures, the taste and the quality of food and wines.
"When you attend various dinners, you'll start to appreciate the subtlety of different food and you begin to find out that wine actually helps enhance the food," he added.
Despite his extensive gastronomic knowledge, the husband of Landa Siddik and father of four shyly admitted that he doesn't cook. "My wife is a very good cook. She's a cordon bleu as well," he said.
His interest in history couples with his love for food and wines. "It's interesting how food (and wines) is connected with history. For example, spaghetti was brought by Marco Polo to Italy. Furthermore, many people look down on American wines but they don't realize that French grapes come from American stock. Now, some of the very good wines are from California."
And being a member of the Chaine, Firdaus also sees opportunities to further promote local products, like mineral water and the country's rich culinary tradition.
"We would like to serve water on the table as well as to serve traditional (alcoholic) drinks like brem or tuak or smoke local cigars, which are quite expensive, compared to Dominican cigars but the industry shows early signs of moving up," he said.
Its programs can also help boost the country's tourism sector as the Chaine's bailliages in Indonesia and Singapore have won a bid to jointly organize a Young Chefs Competition with the next contest to be held in Singapore and the Conseil d'Administration meeting will be held in September, 2002, in Bali. At least 200 members of the Chaine from around the world are expected to come.
"The challenge is that since we don't have the support from the government, its agencies or the tourism board, we have to do everything by ourselves," Firdaus said.
The local Chaine is also planning to introduce "From the Chef's Table" and "The Ambassador's Table" next year and to explore good restaurants in which a good Chaine dinner can be held.
A fund-raising dinner -- at the Bogor Palace or a "Tempo Doeloe" dinner at the National Archives building -- is also on its program and the funds collected will be used to provide the Indonesian Red Cross with refrigerated ambulances, for examples.
"Hopefully, (through these unique activities) people would remember Indonesia and come back again," he said.