In a world that runs on numerous occupations, it is those who nurture our gustation that we celebrate each year on the 20th of October, marked on calendars as International Chefs Day. Food forms some of our most primary memories, be it a hearty chicken burger you ate as a child or the perfect sirloin steak on your 21st birthday last year. It is the chefs who have an innate, effortless ability to ignite fond memories surrounding food, which makes hours of relentless work fulfilling rather than tiring.

There comes a time when the fledgling leaves the nest of its kin to create a life of its own—something inevitable but imperative for the circle of life to continue. The 2023 Convocation Ceremony at ISH celebrated those at a similar point in life. It was a two-day event that commenced with a rather flamboyant gala night. The students who had joined what now seems ages ago were grown up. Dressed in crisp tuxedos and shimmering camisoles, it did not take them long to get the night going. The second day ended with an official graduation ceremony, where parents looked on, teary-eyed, as their child prepared to start a new journey. Hearts swelled with pride, and the air was filled with cries of cheer for the Batch of 2019.

The Semester V students of the Bachelors in Culinary Arts program set out on one weekend to explore a new place and its cuisine. As they bid us adieu, they promised to return with tales and samples of what they discovered. Below is an account of one student who, just like the others, made the most of this getaway.

You must have eaten quite a bit of chocolate, but did you know how the “perfect” bar came to be? Crafting and selling a moderately exquisite bar of artisanal chocolate can cost you a handsome amount today, but imagine learning of the fact that the Aztec farmers actually used cacao beans as a form of currency to pay their taxes sometimes. It seems almost utopian, right?

The hallowed culture of Japan—with creations that centre audiences across the globe in the lap of simplistic serenity, a futuristic approach to even the most chore-like tasks, and a demurely boastful devotion to their pure, deeply rooted culture—forms the cornerstone of the acclaim the people of this region of the Orient have garnered worldwide.

"When you look at the most exciting restaurants in the world at the moment, they're not in Paris and London. They are hidden away. You've got to make the effort."