Blast from the Past - Chef Tommes' Kitchen 101 - Orchan Consulting

Someone who is a successful master of his trades wouldn’t likely to keep his talent to himself. He would share it with the world, and make known to everyone interested that it only takes practice and dedication to become good at something one is passionate about.

Chef Tommes, popular AFC television Chef (Chalk & Cheese) and owner of Penang’s That Little Wine Bar (TLWB) and Irrawaddy Fine Foods (IFF), is the man known for having diverse culinary skills which include but not limited to cooking great meals, baking cakes and pastries, knifing, poultry preparation as well as wine tasting.

With the will to share his joy of cooking, Tommes conducted his popular Kitchen 101 series that were held at his restaurants. Tommes’ profound culinary skills combined with his quirky personality and talent in teaching made the series, which were usually held on the weekends, a popular teaching kitchen especially among the expats and professionals from Penang as well as from outside. Participants varies from young people trying their hands on cooking to housewives killing time to improve their existing cooking skills.

The classes were designed to get people more accustomed to different aspects of the culinary world. Apart from knowing what ingredients to use, those who attended were taught the ropes; namely chopping, searing, sautéing, emulsifying, controlling temperature as well as blanching & shocking. The take-home tip that Tommes expected the participants to apply was to experiment with more flavour and ingredients at home.

Orchan has represented Chef Tommes on retainer since 2009. With the help of Orchan, Kitchen 101 received good coverage from some of the local and KL-based media with some of them being the participants. Tommes was also able to present his knife-cutting skills to readers of New Straits Times; another great piece garnered by Orchan for the chef and his restaurants.