The Swiss chef named it “Ibis” with the aim of teaching culinary principles in a professional manner and modern methods, to attract trainees to learn in his institution, as well as to establish a restaurant popular with tourists and Egyptians alike.
Marcus tells “Sky News Arabia” that he came to Egypt in 1992 as the Executive Chef of the Movenpick Hotel Heliopolis, and has always been an active member of the World Association of Chefs Societies, an international organization of chefs that has been in existence since 1929, aiming to exchange knowledge and experience among chefs in all over the world. around the world through culinary competitions and training.
He founded the Egyptian Chefs Association in 1997 in Egypt with the support of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, where the association became a member of the international organization.
He added that he has devoted his entire career to training chefs in South Africa, South Korea and Egypt, where he has lived for more than 25 years.
Food is part of the tourism industry
Marcus points out that “providing delicious, quality and safe food is an integral part of the tourism industry, so training in preparing delicious, safe and delicious food is essential to the health tourism industry.”
Marcus points out that he and his wife, Myriam, established a restaurant and a cooking school called “Ibis” in the village of Tunis in the Fayoum Governorate because of their passion for the “tourist” Fayoum Governorate.
language barrier
Marcus explains that: “There is no problem with language in the kitchen. During the training, students learn words that express basic kitchen tools and cooking terms. It is important for students to learn basic English to expand and develop further, while a translator is provided for theoretical classes.”
He stresses that “the basic principles of cooking and culinary science are the same in all kitchens, but with regard to the food itself, it is not possible to evaluate national cuisines against each other, as each national cuisine has its own taste and flavors.”
For his part, Mahmoud Morsi, 33, one of the trainees at the “Ibis” school, said that despite his work as a manager of customer and bank accounts in a company, he decided to train in cooking in the restaurant founded by Chef Marcos, after he found professionalism in this place. and sufficient experience.
Morsi added in an interview with “Sky News Arabia” that the restaurant does not accept anyone to learn easily, but rather conducts personal interviews to reveal the extent of the student’s willingness to learn, and does not focus on the kitchen of a particular country or food, but rather focus on the basics of cooking, In addition to factors such as the interaction of temperatures with food, or its components such as protein, starch or sugar, etc., and in the end, graduates of this school will be able to do any cooking method as long as its components are available.”
He added, “The difference between what we learn with this chef is that he teaches us the basics of cooking methods in general, which attracts tourists to eat at Ibis because it is prepared in a way that suits their taste, even if it is Egyptian food. For example, Chef Marcus prefers to feel the taste of something, because it is Refuses to overcook food, or to increase spices more than necessary so that their taste does not cover the taste of the original food, and cooking balances the maturity of food and makes it easy to chew so that it is not overcooked and the food is not raw.
Hygiene special care
Mahmoud explains: “There is a great deal of attention to the level of hygiene, as the restaurant teaches us how to prevent bacteria from reaching certain types of food. It also focuses on making the food ingredients fresh, for example, we rely on any imported fish, but we rely on ordinary Egyptian fish “tilapia” so that it is fresh and served Unusually and deliciously.
He points out that Marcus teaches attention to customers first, and the speed of serving meals to them, as well as focusing on the type of food, not its shape. The most important thing is for customers to get a saturated meal that is worth the money paid by the customer, so that we can earn his respect.
He stresses that the cost of learning to cook is not great compared to the experience obtained, in addition to the practical training where the trainees are handed books for study and review, containing all the basics of cooking known in the world, and containing everything, such as making pasta from flour or making boneless chicken, and others. The basics of cooking.
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