International culinary school opens another branch in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - A strong market for culinary and hotel management in Cebu prompted a culinary arts school to open another branch in the Queen City of the South along with its international-based curriculum to have an edge in the domestic industry and abroad.

International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (ISCAHM) co-founder Hansjörg Schallenberg said that the school considers theoretical training and practical hands-on experiences as top priorities to enhance the skills of its students and eventually mold them to become real professionals.

Acknowledging the need to get a job, he added that courses in ISCAHM are shaped accordingly based in German, Australian and Swiss standards to give more credibility to their students in working in five or four-star hotel chains and cruise liners.

“We have to raise the standards. We have to train everything from scratch. Even if they have basic education, they are not trained in hotel standards. Culinary arts require a lot of skills,” he stated.

With a matter of attitude and passion, he noted that there is also a possibility to shift career from culinary to management courses as the industry offers a wide range of opportunities.

“It’s not a matter of how good you are but how interested you are. I believe if you are interested to do something you love, it is a good indicator that you’ll be successful in the career,” he said.

With a record of 80% of their students who find jobs in two years’ time, Schallenberg further said that universities who offer hotel and restaurant management should focus more on specialization to upscale the skills of the graduates rather than just offering generic courses.

Accommodating 600 students for all the programs and 20 students per class, ISCAHM offers a diploma course enables a student to earn an Australian Certificate III which could help them in applying jobs abroad.

“We always tell our students, once you leave the school and get a job in the Philippines or abroad, be ready to start at the bottom. I cannot promise a job. You never can. But culinary education will help fast-track your career,” Schallenberg said.

With full-time industry-based professionals and state-of-the-art facilities, he said that the students would dwell more in hands-on training and get used to a busy kitchen environment to test their capacities.

Starting on July this year, the school features three classrooms, storage facilities like walk-in freezer and chiller, main and hot kitchen, dishwashing area for washing, rinsing and sanitizing, and stock room all suited in accordance to international standards.

Now accepting enrolees, ISCAHM offers an 8-month and 12-month professional course in culinary arts and kitchen management and in pastry and bakery arts and kitchen management, two-year diploma course in culinary chefs training program, and short courses in fundamentals in culinary arts, bread baking, pastry arts, cupcakes and pasta and risotto.

ISCAHM has its first school situated in Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City with Chef Norbert Gandler as a co-founder. — (FREEMAN)