The Jakarta Culinary Festival 2012 (JCF 2012) that runs from 4^th-31^st October may be the most lavish culinary celebration in the world.

Ismaya Group, the organizer, humbly promoted its bi-annual epicurean month long festival as showcasing the intricate craftsmanship of prestigious international chefs, vintners, local culinary stars, and many more.

Well known for more than 20 restaurants and bars under their ownership and management, Ismaya Group successfully invited 12 international talents and 45 local culinary stars. The 14 special areas in the exhibition arena, over 150 performances and 264 events at JCF 2012 are just the tip of the iceberg.

We visited the festival 2 days in a row during its 4 days Grand Opening Expo and for us the “many more” that Ismaya Group promoted means “a thousand more.”

A worthwhile investment

Entry ticket costs approximately $2 per person. With it come a 46 pages JCF 2012 guidebook and a bottled iced tea. A $5 ticket gets a visitor an alcoholic beverage.

Once you get your hand stamped with JCF you are free to roam the exhibition area full of gourmet choices and hop in and out from one cooking show to the other. On day 3 for example, the Celebrity Cooking Theater had 7 shows while the Culinary Stars Cooking Stage had 6 shows. All free and led by international and Indonesian celebrity chefs.

The shows we attended distributed recipes and samples of the dishes to all audience with generous portions (compared to other international food festivals) that we skipped lunch.

Specific sessions cost more, including wine pairing degustation lunch and dinner with Mario Batali where guests sampled the chef's signature dishes in small portions on one sitting, Batali is a prize winning chef decorated with Michelin Stars and James Beard Foundation awards, accolades in the culinary world.

Gastronomy lineup

In addition to Mario Batali, international master chefs enlivening JCF 2012 came from several countries, courtesy of Garuda Indonesia.  George Calombaris, the co-judge of Master Chef Australia will come on the third week, as Diego Munoz & Emilio Macias chefs of Astrid Y. Gaston in Peru.

Edward Kwon of The Mixed One Korea and Marchel Vigneron, star of the Next Iron Chef jazzed up the first week.  Nooror Steppe founder and master chef of the Blue Elephant with branches in 11 countries led hands on cooking classes, also on the first week.

Adored by Indonesian children, young celebrity chefs Isabella and Sofia Bliss patiently guided children aged 8-12 in kitchen safety and cooking good food.. The Bliss Sisters authors of A little bit of this, a little bit of that did several cooking demos, each attended by more than 200 people and won the admiration of parents and children who saw their favorite TV stars in person for the first time.

At JCF 2012 we were glad to again meet Chef Vindex Tengker the former judge of Master Chef Indonesia.  Chef Vindex, as posted here, gave a cooking demo courtesy of The Dharmawangsa, when Omar Niode Foundation organized Food Revolution Day Java, part of the global event initiated by Chef Jamie Oliver.

The list of Indonesia’s culinary stars is even more impressive.  Pioneers such as William Wongso  and Sisca Suwitomo, highly regarded due to their proficiency, persistency and consistency, brighten up the cooking demos.

Arnold Poernomo, Sandra Djohan, Marinka and many others, that have set the trend of Indonesian chefs being educated and learn their ropes abroad, showed how their talents and hard work paid off.

Cooking and sharing

As international as the festival looks since JCF 2012 aimed to be acknowledged as one of the best food festivals in South East Asia, its Indonesian roots is clearly seen. The Indonesian Pavilion with food from provinces in the archipelago and hospitality by booth attendants are a winning combination.

We are very grateful to the chefs who shared their kitchen tips and interacted with their audience. Chef Marinka, a judge of Master Chef Indonesia, greeted a group of teens that turned out to be students at Bandung Institute of Tourism. They came all the way from Bandung to Jakarta, a three-hour drive, to learn some tips from the best.

In our two days at JCF 2012 we heard many of the same messages from celebrity chefs:

• Safety in the kitchen is above all
• Keep your kitchen counter and your hands clean
• Use feelings in mixing ingredients, do not rely on recipes (unless it is baking)
• Learn one technique and you can create many recipes; learn one recipe, and it is only one recipe.

Omni-experience

JCF 2012 is Ismaya Group’s third festival. Their culinary experience and skills in restaurant and festival management, assisted by those who work behind the scene, empower star chefs with their signature dishes to shine with impeccable performances

The festival has more weeks to go. Although it may not be as extravagant as the grand opening expo, we will sure visit JCF 2012 again to absorb its pleasant ambience and to appreciate its lavish cuisines.

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Images: Dian Anggraini