The boys really start cooking at the Dharmawangsa

The boys really start cooking at the Dharmawangsa

Fitri Wulandari
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

What can men do to reinvigorate their normal routine of stressful
work, other than watching sports, going to clubs or golfing? Some
probably will engage in those traditional male activities, but
some others are signing up for cooking classes.

Today's modern men have definitely become more open-minded and
regard cooking as an art and a fresh activity to break up the
monotony of their routine.

The Dharmawangsa Hotel organizes just such a class once a
month.

However, this is not just a cooking class where participants
learn cooking from scratch.

Participants do not only enjoy a relaxing evening over cigars,
wine and good food, but learn gourmet cooking from a
international-acclaimed master chefs, who conduct the course in
English.

During one recent class, the participants learned to make
modern French cuisine from master chef Gilles Marx from
Australia's One Broke Road restaurant.

Check out the menu: Smoked duck breast and duck gizzard salad
on yellow frisse in warm red wine vinaigrette followed by light
watercress cream soup with sevruga caviar.

The list of mouthwatering food continued with Pan-fried
halibut filet yellow chanterelle and black trompette mushroom
with tagliatelle pasta in a mushroom cappuccino sauce topped off
with oven roasted lamb loin scented with basil, artichoke
ratatouille and pommes pailles.

The evening class closed with Bittersweet chocolate mousse
mille feuille with orange scented figs.

"Basically, I enjoy good food and cooking. I want to know how
the chefs prepare these dishes, that's why I'm taking the class,"
Wiweko Adi Nugroho, told The Jakarta Post, adding that it was his
first time at such a class.

The 30-year-old employee of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IBRA), Wiweko learned about the cooking class from his
friend who works at the hotel.

Eng Fook Hoong, a 48-year-old Singaporean businessman
expressed a similar opinion, "I enjoy preparing food. And the
cooking class is not so different from some traditional cooking,
but it just does it with more passion".

The class, launched in October last year, has gained
popularity among male business executives in Jakarta.

Held once a month, it features different gourmet cooking and
master chefs.

To sign up for the class, the Dharmawangsa charges Rp 350,000
and each participant is required to bring their own wine.

While cooking may not be popular among Indonesian men who
traditionally consider cooking strictly women's work, the class
does have almost an equal number of Indonesians and expatriates.

Most of the Indonesians admitted that they already had a
strong cooking tradition at home.

"My dad is a good cook...He can cook better than my mother,"
Wiweko chuckled.

However, their desire to learn how to cook gourmet food is not
their only motive.

It is a change of pace, a getaway from the routine and serious
day-to-day business world.

"Cooking is just one of the many facets of my life. Some
people like to go to movies, others go to soccer matches ...,"
Eng remarked.

"But here, we don't eat to survive but as a lifestyle. It's
beyond survival," he added.

Unlike rookie Wiweko, Eng is a regular visitor to
Dharmawangsa's male-only cooking class since the monthly program
began six month ago.

He actually flies in from Singapore to attend once a month if
does not happen to be in Jakarta on business that day.

"As a businessmen, I don't have much leisure time. I like to
come here because I meet many people from different cultural
backgrounds ... it's very refreshing," Eng remarked.

Luis Fernandes, general manager of the Dharmawangsa said that
the idea to set up such a course was to give a unique, yet
refreshing program for men.

"Men live in a stressful world that makes them tend to be too
serious," Luis said.

"We want to have a program for men where they can meet people
from other companies to have fun ... but it's still educational,"
he added.

The entire program is set up to create a casual, relaxing time
for the boys.

The class atmosphere was indeed very relaxing. The men
casually learned how the master chef prepared the dish over a
glass of wine.

After the chef finished cooking one dish, his eager students
all had a chance to taste their handiwork.

And then the conversation begins at the tables, mostly about
the best places in town to shop for the right ingredients and
exchange other cooking tips.

Before and after the class, the participants enjoy a cigar and
wine session.

"The cigars, the wine and the cooking are all an appreciation
of things made by hand. Cigars, wine and food are all made by
hand," Luis explained.

In the end, Luis said, the whole program comes down to the
basic aspects of dinner: "good wine, good cigars, good food and
good company".

I-box
The Men's Cooking Class at the Dharmawangsa
Contact: Eming
Phone: (021) 725-8181