Firdaus promotes culinary arts

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.