My name is Jevanuz Nathanael Nagaria, Binusian 2023, an alumnus of Business Hotel Management at Binus Bekasi. I want to share my experience of participating in my first cooking competition. This cooking competition is not like any other competition; it is prestigious. I competed in the 4th La Cuisine 2022 at the SIAL InterFOOD Expo at JIEXPO Kemayoran, Jakarta.

I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. The competition and expo were postponed due to Covid-19 in 2020-2021. In 2019, I once assisted my seniors when they were practising for the 3rd La Cuisine 2019; since then, I have been motivated to take a chance to participate in that cooking competition.

I knew the competition from Chef Nurul and the YCCI association had been held again. At that moment, I immediately decided to join the competition. The competition has 21 classes, and I chose class 14 for Indonesia Spice Up the World – Fish Main Course. I have to cook and serve 2 main course plates of fish with Indonesian flavour and western plating. I immediately thought of a menu called Ikan Acar Kuning or Pesmol. This menu has been in my mind for a year when I was still a trainee in semester 5.

I chose Indonesian Cuisine because I want to challenge myself to cook Indonesian Cuisine. From the beginning, I was more into cooking Western Cuisine, but now, I want to challenge myself as an Indonesian to cook Indonesian Cuisine, which I rarely cook. We practised for over a month and a half before the November 09th, 2022 competition. I am very glad and grateful that Ms. Rachel, our Head of Program, and Chef Nurul, our mentor, supported me.

I was nervous on competition day, but I thought it was okay because this was my first time. Long story short, I did not get a medal; I only got a diploma. My practice and performance are not good enough, but I am glad that I dare to challenge myself, and I am so grateful to hear every feedback from the judges. Now I know what to do and what it takes to cook good Indonesian food. The input means a lot to me. I learned my weak points and mistakes, which motivates me to fight harder and keep learning. The judges said that my sauce doesn’t taste entirely Indonesian enough; it needs more bumbu to be bodied. From that, I know my weakness is in the composition of the bumbu, and I learn from that for the following opportunities.

This opportunity is my stepping stone to another level, and I look forward to another chance. I will never give up and keep looking for excellence. I will quote a quote from Thomas Alfa Edison: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10.000 ways that won’t work”. Yes, this is just my path to success, and from this lesson, I can better appreciate other successes that will come in the future. So, soon, I will participate again in any competition and keep fighting.

So, that is all that I can share, and hopefully, my experience can motivate everyone who reads this. I learned a lot from this opportunity by challenging myself.  I want to say thank you to Ms.Rachel, Chef Nurul, my Mom, the judges, and myself. Next time could be better, and it will.

 

Thank you

Jevanuz Nathanael Nagaria – 2301870533