Whatever you say, the culture of consumption is changing rapidly. This is especially noticeable in the example of the food industry. Despite the difficult circumstances, various establishments are opened, which bring new, sometimes completely unfamiliar dishes to the consumer’s discretion; surprise guests with interior solutions or attract price offers. But none of the establishments will take place without the main person – the cook. We talked with Natalia Blazhievska, a teacher of professional disciplines at the Zhytomyr College of Trade and Economics, about the training of specialists, favorite dishes and the gastronomic brand of Zhytomyr

«All my conscious life is connected with the Zhytomyr College of Trade and Economics: I studied here for three and a half years, and after a while I started working. She began as a master of industrial training, later began to teach special subjects. I have been working at the college for 14 years, I have students that I am infinitely proud of, because they have become professionals, opened their own restaurants. When it is said that institutions are mostly opened by children with the help of wealthy parents, this is not entirely true. Some of our graduates do it on their own, because they are infinitely in love with their work and make a lot of effort for their own development»

«When I was a student, we could hear the whole flow of new information from a teacher who was ideal for us. Listening to the lectures, they were afraid to move so as not to miss something in the technology of cooking. It was especially interesting when they showed slides on the presentation of dishes, practiced practical and laboratory work. Today, the topic of cooking is popular, fashionable, there are many culinary TV projects, information is disseminated on social networks, there is a whole philosophy of food-art. Evidence of this is the interest in cooking, even school-age children. The college has a partnership with Teterivska Secondary School, and under my leadership there is a group «Laboratory of Creative Ideas». Students from 8th to 9th grade come to college once a week, we prepare different dishes in our laboratory. Of course, children do not want to cook something ordinary – they want to cook what they saw on social networks or on the Internet»

«Now there are many new cooking techniques, presentations. In order for the graduates of our educational institution to keep up with the times, to master new work techniques, to follow the rules of sanitation and hygiene in accordance with the requirements of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point,a system of analysis of risks, hazards and critical control points, which identifies, assesses and controls hazards that are determinants of food safety), and did not work according to the rule «I am an artist, I see this way»

«We often take part in All-Ukrainian and international competitions. It would seem that there are so many recipes and you can not invent anything new, but no, every time we highlight something new. The world is evolving, fashion is not standing still. And cooking is not an exception»

«When I teach the technology of culinary production, I start any topic with basic technological concepts and only then draw a parallel with modern dishes. If students are taught only to cook modern dishes without mastering the basics, understanding the physico-chemical changes that occur with products, it will be much harder for them to grow professionally. After all, cooking is developing rapidly and dishes that are in trend today, will later lose their position. We work with current regulations – a collection of recipes for dishes and culinary products. Quite often students say that this is an «ancient textbook», but later thank for teaching them to use it. Especially when you have to work with documents, recalculate raw materials, make technological maps… For comparison, we can take a collection of recipes for culinary dishes and products in 2016: the content is the same, only the cover is new. Instead of the name «brine» it is written «cucumber»

«Children will be the way we raise them. If we live with the thought that they are bad, unwilling to learn, then they will be like that. Students need to be motivated to the profession. It is important that children not only listen, but also hear what the teacher is teaching them. They knew how to analyze, had culinary logic. There are children who come to study by vocation, but there are also those who came because their parents advised them»

«Earlier, when it came to competitions, few people agreed to participate in them: expensive, difficult, you need to prepare for a long time. Now students come on September 1 and immediately ask: «What do we have there according to plan? What competitions do we have there?» Our school is a collective member of the Ukrainian Culinary Union, so we always take part in the International competitions “Best Cook Fest”. The administration of the college actively supports us in this matter. For example: 11 students of our college last year brought 19 medals from the city of Chernivtsi»

«A good cook first of all needs to love his job. Culinary logic has yet to be developed. In order to develop and prepare dishes not only according to these recipes, but also to experiment, you need to know the basics of cooking. Not only to perform some technological operations, but also to understand why we do it, how the color, taste, aroma, consistency of the product will change in the end. Delicious, gourmet dishes do not have to be made from expensive products. You can cook from simple – those that we use every day. It is culinary logic that allows you to develop the kitchen»

«The whole world knows Ukrainian cuisine. When we were in Turkey at the International Competition, we had the opportunity to prepare Ukrainian borsch with pampushkas and treat everyone present – representatives of about 20 countries. Some looked with fear, and some came for the supplement. The anthem of our country played, everyone began to applaud. I think that this is evidence that the cooked dishes were enjoyed»

«The profession of a cook is quite popular. We graduate a sufficient number of specialists, but, unfortunately, a large percentage of graduate students go abroad. Once upon a time when we were students, we approached masters and teachers and asked them to help us go to a restaurant for a part-time job on the weekends, because almost all companies had full-time employees. And today on the contrary: constantly call and say that cooks are necessary»

«I like to cook desserts and sweets, but I don’t have a certain favorite dish»

«A painful issue for me is that they often prefer European and Asian cuisine, forgetting about our national, special dishes. I think that on the contrary we should promote our Ukrainian cuisine, so I involve students in writing research papers. In the course of our work we study the peculiarities of cooking, which are typical of the Polissya region. We aim not only to collect recipes, but also to design, prepare and present dishes in a modern interpretation. For example, sour cream «Rainbow» is a special dish of Zhytomyr region, but in the restaurant we for some reason prefer panna cotta, although they taste similar. It is necessary to analyze your kitchen first, and not to take someone else’s. We can make Japanese sushi, but we still don’t make it the way the Japanese do, and they don’t make our borsch like we do»

«As part of the celebration of the Day of Tourism in Zhytomyr on Mykhailivska Street, students prepared dishes from the branded collection of dishes of the Zhytomyr region and treated residents and guests of the city with delicacies. After the tasting, a popular vote took place. According to its results, the most popular was goulash soup in Zhytomyr. It is actually very tasty, but for some reason it is almost never cooked, although it could be a business card of Zhytomyr, a kind of gastro-brand»

«I tell my students that I am not a teacher who teaches material. I am a teacher who teaches. I try not only to tell the technology of cooking, but also to demonstrate my cooking skills. Therefore, it is difficult to determine who I am more – a cook or a teacher. When I see that the child has lowered his wings and is swimming downstream, I try to excite him, to involve him in competitions, extracurricular activities of a professional nature. Last year, with my group VHP-10, we organized culinary fairs and sales almost every holiday, in which all students of the group were involved. When a student or graduate surpasses his teacher – this is the highest reward for a teacher»