New York. Renowned celebrity chef Jacques Pépin may be approaching his 80th birthday, but the award-winning cook is still going strong.

Pépin’s second book, “La Technique,” was published nearly four decades ago and is considered a classic tome on French cooking. His upcoming book and television series, “Jacques Pépin: Heart & Soul in the Kitchen,” will debut in October.

The French-born, Connecticut-based chef, who has recovered after suffering a minor stroke in March, is the author of more than 20 cookbooks and has hosted many TV cooking shows. He won an Emmy Award for a TV cooking series he did with Julia Child.

Pépin spoke to Reuters about his long career, his inspirations and how he will celebrate his milestone birthday.

Q: What still inspires you in the kitchen?

A: The market inspires me. Also the garden, certainly right now with all the herbs. Even traveling. My imagination, too.

How has living in America helped transform you as a chef?

I am certainly more open. I am more tolerant. I went back to school. I went back to cooking but on another level.

What excites you about the American culinary scene right now?

People are going to their roots more, whether it’s New Orleans or New England. They are going back to where they were born and opening up restaurants with the type of food they had as children. Rather than the eccentricities and exaggerations of a few years ago for the sake of decoration, for the sake of making something different. Who cares?

What advice you do give to a chef?

I tell a young chef: “When you are finished with culinary school or an apprenticeship, you have to try to work at the best possible places to expand your knowledge. If you go work for Daniel Boulud or Thomas Keller, you want to see through the eyes of those chefs regardless of whether it coincides with your sense of taste and ascetics. It really doesn’t matter. You also need discipline and commitment.”

What is the highlight of your culinary career so far?

Maybe my next book? I always look to the future. I’ve always been blessed and very lucky with the things I’ve done.

How will you celebrate your 80th birthday?

I’ll probably be home, sharing a can of caviar with my wife.

Reuters

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Walking into ramen restaurant Ippudo’s first ever outlet in Indonesia at the Pacific Place mall in South Jakarta, you notice a sign promoting not just the latest additions to its world-famous lineup of ramen bowls, but also an emphasis on the different and special utensils used for its newest creations.

At first glance, this chunk of the promotional banner may seem odd. But a closer look at the menu and it becomes clear why it’s there.

Ippudo has been making waves outside Japan for several years now, with long lines of customers at its New York and London outlets proving just how much word about its bowls of ramen have gone around among casual Western diners. The chain restaurant now has outlets in Australia, China, Singapore and Malaysia.

Ippudo’s arrival in Jakarta last year received a similarly warm welcome, as attested to by the now familiar long lines of curious customers during the first few months after its opening. But its presence nonetheless ignored a large chunk of the city’s Muslim foodies, who find themselves unable to sample Ippudo’s world-famous bowls of pork ramen.

Alas, while many customers willingly fall in line in front of the restaurant at even the most demanding hours for one’s belly, many others must seek out other halal ramen options.

Responding to the clamoring demand and an increasingly established foothold in Jakarta’s growing appetite for ramen, Ippudo launched toward the end of May the chain’s first ramen made with chicken broth, officially marking Indonesia as an important market in its global operations.

“It’s very, very obvious that Indonesia is a very potential market [...] so we realize that there’s a demand for that and so Ippudo would like to extend their ability to make good ramen over to the Muslim community,” the company said.

But putting together its first chicken ramen recipe was no easy feat, and required a long process of trial and error by ramen experts within the company who took notes of the tiniest change in measurements for each of the ingredients used.

The result is its chicken shoyu ramen, made with a broth that is different from the typically creamier chicken ramen dishes found in other restaurants. It is clear, almost understated, and rich with complimenting flavors coming especially from the chashu chicken pieces it is served with.

Its spicier counterpart, the spicy chicken ramen, also stands out thanks to Ippudo’s homemade sambal, or chili sauce, a taste that would fare well with the Indonesian palette thanks to hints of local homemade sambal typically found in more local or traditional restaurants, though amplified by the combination of not just one but at least four different types of chili.

“This sambal is created especially for the spicy chicken ramen bowl. If you ordered the regular chicken ramen, you’ll be served chili flakes should you need to spice things up, but not this particular sambal,” says Ippudo Indonesia marketing manager Amanda Sihombing.

Part of the process of creating the right bowl of chicken ramen was also to create the right noodles to go with the broth, and for this, Ippudo Asia and Oceania research and quality head Hideki Miyazaki says the noodles served with the chicken ramen are different from the ones served in Ippudo’s bowls of pork ramen.

“This is 100 percent made especially for the chicken ramen. In Ippudo, different noodles are matched with a different kind of soup. You will see different textures, some curlier, others thinner,” he says.

“In the original tonkotsu ramen, the water content is a bit less … giving it a bit more chewiness. The shoyu ramen, because the broth is a little bit more clear, the noodles are slightly thicker, and if you bite on it, there’s a little bit more softness to it. Water content is a little bit higher in the noodles for the chicken ramen.”

But one crucial aspect of serving chicken ramen to a Muslim-majority community lies in the cooking process itself, wherein Ippudo had to make sure that the creation of this dish was conducted separately from where its pork ramen was cooked, in order to uphold the halal process for its customers.

“We didn’t want to simply create a chicken ramen. We know that although we are not a halal restaurant, we wanted to make sure that we serve this properly,” Amanda says.

“We separated the kitchen where the chicken ramen is made, and we also use a different set of utensils. We have special bowls that we use to serve the chicken ramen.”

While customers from all religious backgrounds will now be able to get a taste of the Japanese restaurant’s famed noodles, customers will also be happy to find a plethora of tasty Japanese cuisine to choose from in its menu. Ippudo’s selection of buns is an easy crowd pleaser, with soft and slightly sweet buns to go with customer’s choice of filling: pork, chicken or shrimp. On the sushi front, Ippudo’s salmon roll is served with a fresh, creamy finish that more than makes up for its limited sushi selection.

“In Japan, Ippudo is well known for just the ramen specialty,” Hideki says.

“But for our overseas market, they realized that the contents [of the menu] have to change, hence we came up with the appetizers. The menu that we make are all uniquely made from our research and development team … so the sushi you eat are uniquely Ippudo – you will not see them serving the same thing in other restaurants.”

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Seventeen-year-old Miss India Indonesia, Grace Walia, speaks to reporters about her recent victory and future plans; Grace, center, beat 19 contestants to take the crown. (BeritaSatu Photo/Danung Arifin)

Jakarta. The last year of school is always notorious for its terrifying final examinations and big decisions that await seniors who are about to make the jump to their next phase in life. It’s a year filled with nerve-racking yet exciting moments, choices to be considered and events that could just change one’s life forever.

Such was the case for 17-year-old Grace Walia, who a few months before graduating, decided to take up the challenge of joining in the Miss India Indonesia beauty pageant, juggling her participation in the contest with her already busy academic life.

But it all paid off in February when she was named winner of the contest after completing a set of workshops, question and answer sessions, a talent performance and other evaluation phases.

These days, Grace busies herself with a range of activities, promoting both Indonesian and Indian culture in her role as Miss India Indonesia as she waits for her upcoming graduation.

The Jakarta Globe caught up with her on Wednesday to talk about her passion, future plans and how the pageant has changed her.

Q: How has life changed after winning the Miss India Indonesia beauty pageant?

A: The experiences I gained from Miss India Indonesia made a big difference on my confidence. I was able to answer questions in front of 200 people, which is a very big deal for me. I was nervous just auditioning in front of three judges before the competition, so this contest did a lot to my personality because now I know myself more, I know what I’m capable of, and I know I have a lot of potential in me.

The competition made me recognize all that, and that’s what I’m thankful for.

Grace, right, conducts an interview with B1 Radio. (BeritaSatu Photo/Danung Arifin)

What was it like juggling the competition with school?

It wasn’t that difficult because it’s two different things. It’s representing the pageant and it’s, well, school. It got busy, [such as] when you had to do an event and you had to study that night. I just went through my examination to graduate high school.

What motivated you to join the pageant?

Participating in a beauty pageant like Miss India Indonesia calls for a lot of confidence, and I wanted to have that confidence. I wanted to be a woman who believes in herself and can perform on stage… so I saw this as a good opportunity for me.

What role do you think beauty pageants play in society today?

I think that they give opportunities to young women to increase their potential and show their talent.

They also give an opportunity to more women to participate in charities, to not be only beautiful on the outside but also in the inside, because beauty is what beauty does.

Some say that beauty pageants are no longer relevant and objectify women. Why do you think critics say that and what is your response to them?

I think that different people have different opinions about the pageant and why it exists, but, you know, if people do not want to participate then they don’t have to.

But there are other people out there who want to do this, there are people who want to showcase their talent and also their beauty at the same time and I think that just because there are certain groups of people who do not agree, that shouldn’t stop other women from achieving their dreams.

Both Indonesia and India are very rich in culture. What aspects of Indian and Indonesian cultures do you wish more people knew about? How would you represent these two countries?

I would represent them both by promoting the similarities that they have, like how rich they are in their culture, and the fact that both countries have different religions living within them and they have different languages as well.

Indonesia is [often] seen as an Islamic country, but it’s actually not. It’s like that in India as well. If people ask me what my religion is, I would say Hindu, but I’m actually a Sikh, which is another religion in India and I would just like to promote the fact that both countries are built from such a variety in their population.

Miss India Indonesia 2015 visits the BeritaSatu newsroom on April 8, 2015. (BeritaSatu Photo/Danung Arifin)

What are your plans for after the Miss India Indonesia Worldwide competition?

I want to continue my education and be a student — if not here then maybe in Malaysia or Australia. I would like to go abroad, but I wouldn’t mind studying here either. What’s important is to be a student and go to university.

What major are you planning to take?

I’m considering psychology, because I’m very interested in learning about the human brain. I’m the kind of person who thinks a lot about certain things and I’m very observant, so when psychology as a subject was introduced to me, it seemed really interesting.

I would also like to take acting classes, so maybe I’ll try taking a double degree; in psychology because I like the subject, but because I’m into acting and modeling, I’d like to learn about that too.

What do you love the most about acting?

I think when you love something it just comes very naturally. When you find something that’s fun to you and doesn’t feel like a job, [but] feels more like a good time, I think that’s when you know where you’re supposed to be headed.

Acting isn’t as easy as it looks but once I do it properly and once I find my way, it just exhilarates me; it’s incredible for me.

What’s one cause you’re most passionate about?

Since I started school I’ve been very passionate about animal abuse and also violence against women. I’m very passionate about a lot of things but I think those two really have a big effect on me. Because I’ve seen abuse toward animal and I think that needs to stop.

Violence against women is one of the most terrible things going on in this world and if I could make a difference, I would.

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