"India is in the culinary map of world"

With the aim of bringing the young and promising future stars of the international culinary community on a single platform where they could connect, share ideas, while creating something exceptional out of their experiences – the world's biggest culinary competition for student chefs – the International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) – is back with a delicious and delectable bang. The fifth edition of the event will be held across four cities of India – Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru and Kolkata – from January 28 February 2.

The Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) brings together the best hospitality and culinary which has made IIHM numero uno.YCO 2019 will witness participation from budding chefs from 50 countries, including England, Wales, Canada, Russia, Spain, South Africa, UAE, Switzerland, Thailand, France, Italy and Hong Kong among others.

Dr Suborno Bose, Chairman, YCO Global Council, Co-chairman and CEO, International Hospitality Council Founder and Chief Mentor, International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM), took the initiative and kicked off Young Chef Olympiad in the year 2015 and since then the event has been organised over and over again.

Talking about the initiative, he said: "In 2015 we organised the first ever International Young Chef Olympiad with 15 participating countries. The rest has been an extraordinary success story. Now we are planning to build a sustainable model for YCO for the next 50 years. We are looking at not just being stationed in India, but taking the Olympiad abroad to different countries, where it would be easier to unearth even more local talent. I'm hopeful that we'll continue to make India proud this year too."

He believes that IIHM is a perfect place for the people who are looking for an education that extends beyond the four walls of the classroom, and a qualification accepted internationally with hands on experience in highly skilled areas of the hospitality industry. The students are challenged intellectually to develop their analytical thinking, sense of responsibility and their holistic approach to solving business problems in the real world.

Dr Bose also shared that the institution holds strong values which are ingrained in the students from the time they take admission in the institute. They ensure that all students take active part in the numerous charitable activities at IIHM every year.

The international curriculum at IIHM is designed to motivate students to learn holistically through research, field trips, surveys, real-time practice in an attached hotel and develop international perspectives through sharing of ideas with international guest lecturers. At all levels of study, extreme care is taken to ensure that all the students get enough opportunities to be able to satisfy one.

The students are engaged in international case studies, essay writing and presentation skills with emphasis on citation, referencing and bibliography. In the first two levels of the course the student is regularly exposed to the practices and problems within the hospitality industry through work in the kitchen, the training restaurant and the Front Office Studio and assumes responsibility for managing the operations.

Revealing the curriculum in the institute, he asserted, "We started with 35 students; it has come up to 7000 students all over India. Campuses in Doha and Qatar are scheduled to begin in March 2019. The students of IIHM are placed all over the world as general managers, executives, owners, chefs, entrepreneurs. There is a huge emphasis on technology education as well a practical knowledge which is provided to the students."

Dr Suborno also informed that countries like Turkey, Sweden and France have also collaborated with the institute, for the various student exchange programmes. "We are a very modern institute, focussing on worldwide teachings, focussing on to social media which has become a necessity for the benefits of the students in the longer run and be industry ready," he said.