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Honing their culinary skills
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The Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology at Kovalam attracts students from all over the country.
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IT PROBABLY is the only campus in the State to have a bar on the premises. If your mind is already racing along the lines of tequilas and margarita, you'd better rein it in. The bar is off-limits for the students. The drinks they make are diluted with water. So, what's the idea, one might ask? This is the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (IHMCT) at Kovalam that has been set up to teach students how to make and serve food and drinks among other things.
It is 2 p.m. and the first year students at IHMCT are busy at work. Tired after cooking aloo gobi ki tehari, shahi paneer and gulab jamuns in the morning, they have just one dish, madeleines, to make in the afternoon. The ingredients are mixed into the flour and the mixture is ready to be baked. But the students cannot put up their feet yet. Every nook and corner of the kitchen has to be wiped clean before they can call it a day. With brooms, floor wipers and cleaning clothes in hand, they get down to the job. A couple of them stand at the sink, washing the utensils. By this time, the madeleines are baked. Once the madeleines cool down, the students are taught how to dip them in a mixture of jam and water, roll them in grated coconut, and top them with whipped cream and cherries.
The end result matches up to their effort. The post-mortem of the dish is the last thing on the agenda, like in the case of the baingan ka bharta served by the second-year students for lunch earlier. They had omitted to put the brinjals into the tandoor and had instead liquidised it, compelling the chefs to come down heavily on them. The mistake would also have a bearing on the marks of the students.
The reputation of IHMCT is not only on account of the training it provides in hotel management but also its role in shaping the personality and communication skills of the students.
One of the 24 similar institutes in the country, IHMCT Kovalam was set up in 1990 to provide the hospitality industry with professionals.
Besides a three-year degree in hotel management, the institute also offers a PG diploma in housekeeping and front office operations, and a year's craft course in food production.
With an annual intake of 120 students, the institute currently has some 400 students and 40 staff members, including 12 of the faculty, on its rolls. Food production, food service, housekeeping, and front office operations are the four aspects in which the students are trained.
This not only gives them a taste of things yet to come, but also helps them determine which of these areas interests them the most. Quite a few would have decided what their area of specialisation would be before the first-year examinations are over. Ann Ruby Jose, a first-year student, wants to go into housekeeping for the kitchen is too taxing a work for women, she feels. Her classmates, Arun Koshy, Bibin Baby and Ajit Kumar, are sure that the kitchen is their calling.
Two more years of learning at the institute, including the industrial training, tell them how realistic their initial convictions were. Says Aparna Serah Jacob who prefers front office operations, "The kitchen isolates one from all personal contact". Varun Kumar feels job satisfaction is paramount.
A substantial per cent of the total student strength comprises north Indians or Malayalis who have studied outside the State. Says Ayush Kashyap from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, "My father knew this was a good institute to study in. I have no regrets."
Not all who pass through the portals of IHMCT join the hotel industry. The communication skills they develop here take students into careers as diverse as human resources, marketing and even to call centres.
Not everything is upbeat though. Few, students, here land jobs through campus selection. "The industry in Kerala is yet to open up," says Chef Ivan Thomas.
Chef Pradosh Pai is more optimistic. "Save one or two, all get jobs without much delay. Some even go abroad within two or three years," he clarifies.
Says Sreejith, a third-year student, "I want to write my GRE and go abroad. I love to meet new people and see new places. Moreover, the scope for food presentation is enormous abroad. In India, even five-star hotels have menus that are repeated often."
Chef K. Rajasekhar believes it is purely business that prevents big hotels from coming to Kovalam for campus selection. "Hotels these days find it expensive to come for on-campus recruitment. Moreover, their human resource departments are rarely able to set aside the time needed for it. Instead, they urge the students to call upon them for jobs."
Campus selection is underway at IHMCT, but only two students have managed to secure jobs - with the Taj group of hotels. Trident at Jaipur has called for resumes, while a walk-in at the Oberois' Rajvilas property at Jaipur is scheduled for early February.
Asked what prompted the Taj group to select him for the Kitchen Executive Training Programme, R. G. Bobby says, "My way of presenting food." The management of IHMCT also seems determined to take it from strength to strength. Plans are afoot to acquire five more acres near the institute. "We have in mind a resort on the lines of the one at IHMCT, Mumbai. Our students can get hands-on training at such a place without having to go outside the State," says the Acting Principal, Roy P. Jacob.
The resort would also benefit all the students, he says. "Now, only the second-year students get to work in the industry. But with our own resort, students in all the years would get the desired exposure."
The institute also plans a six-month certificate course in hotel and catering management for the local industry. Programmes that have the local population as the target group are also on the anvil. A one-day programme in Capacity Development for local people from all walks of life is also held at IHMCT. "We teach the people how to interact with clients. We provide them Rs. 100 as incentive for participating in this programme," Jacob adds.
The institute also has a biogas plant on its premises as part of the zero-waste management programme. With the kind of facilities it offers and the dedication of the staff and students, IHMCT Kovalam is on the path to becoming the premier hotel management institute in the country.
An inside look
IN THEIR first year, the students of IHMCT are taught the basics of cooking. Says Chef Ivan Thomas, "Cutting and chopping, hygiene, and nutrition are some of the aspects the first-year students focus on."
They begin their kitchen experience with Continental and Chinese cuisine. "Continental cuisine is more scientific. For instance, if you have lean fish as raw material, you choose a style of cooking suited to it."
Indian cuisine is taught in the second year. Says Chef Pradosh Pai, "Students are taught quantity cooking this year. They make food for around 300 people, including the students and staff members, every day. The menu includes vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, salads and desserts from different parts of India." The batch is divided into groups of 60 students. The batches take turns for a six-month training.
Sreejith, a third-year student, who trained at the Leela Hotels, Goa, says industrial training gives students an idea of what all happens in hotels. "Moreover, it is only after the training that most people are able to take a final decision on their area of specialisation."
In the third year, the students learn Continental cuisine yet again but the focus is on regional cuisine such as English, Greek and Mexican. But unlike the second-year students who cook for larger numbers, the students in the third year cook four portions of each dish.
It is not just the kitchen where all the activity takes place. Food serving is yet another art. The choice of the right tablecloth, napkins, knives and forks, is taught, as is the importance of making a customer feel welcome and interested in the food on the menu. Shaibi, a third-year student, likes to be in the thick of things but not behind the scenes, in the kitchen. Housekeeping involves all the cleaning work in a hotel such as laundry, floors, windows, interiors and furniture. Front office operations involve work at the reception, handling of phone calls, and other activities that involve interaction with the customer.
R. K. ROSHNI
Photo: S. Mahinsha
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