In conjunction with its International Cuisine course, the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management features a menu from a different country or culture each week at its practice restaurant, Le Piment Rouge. The third week of November was Peruvian Food Week, held in cooperation with the Embassy of Peru in Ankara and with the support of Ambassador Luis Alberto Campana Boluarte.
During that week, THM students took lessons in Peruvian cooking from the embassy’s chef de cuisine, Jean Carlo Milla, and on November 17 and 18 prepared and served tiradito Nikkei, chi jau kay and quinoa pudding to the restaurant’s guests. The first two of those dishes highlighted the multicultural heritage of Peru’s cuisine.
Among the guests hosted by the department at the event were several from the French Embassy and the French Cultural Center in Ankara, including the center’s director, Sebastien de Courtois. Mr. de Courtois, referencing the THM department’s membership in the Alliance by Institut Paul Bocuse (an international initiative of the renowned French culinary arts school), noted that the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Peru, another school with which the department has signed an agreement, is also a member of the Alliance.
Mr. de Courtois additionally expressed appreciation of the importance that Bilkent University places on providing THM students instruction in a second foreign language.
Other attendees at the event included THM department chair Eda Gürel, assistant chair Güneş Karamullaoğlu, instructor Oğuz Benice, and Department of Business Information Management chair Güliz Esen.
The International Cuisine course chef instructor Elif Denizci and Restaurant Service course instructor Ali Unal, observing that Peruvian cuisine is a new focus of interest in the gourmet world, said that in future they plan to include it in the course each semester.