Aziz Amri's Unique Story : Passes MasterChef Indonesia with His Childhood Indian Dishes
Some of you might not have heard the name Aziz Amri. Aziz Amri is an Indonesian man born in Jakarta in 1994. His name started to gain popularity after he participated in the famous cooking competition, Masterchef Indonesia, season 7. Not only that, but he also made it into the competition because of an Indian dish he prepared. What was that Indian dish, and what is the story behind his idea to cook it? The answers to these questions will be revealed in the following article!
When Aziz Amree was 7 years old, his parents were diplomats in India. The school lunches his parents packed for him consisted of Indonesian food, which he found boring. These included instant noodles, rice with a fried egg, rendang, and even his favorite dish, balado potatoes, which had also become tiresome. One day, he was talking with his Indian friend, who mentioned that he was also bored with his own country's food, like chapati bread. From that conversation, they came up with the idea to swap lunches every day.
The first time Aziz exchanged food with his friend, he dipped his meal into a sauce that he didn't realize was vegetable-based. He was puzzled at how something made solely from vegetables could taste so good. He then thought about how meat is expensive in India, yet every time he was invited to eat at his Indian friend's house, the food was delicious despite not using expensive ingredients like meat. From this realization, he learned that tasty food doesn't always require expensive ingredients. Any ingredient can be turned into a delicious dish.
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Aziz always enjoyed the food he exchanged with his Indian friend, so much so that he forgot to ask the names of the dishes. When he returned to Indonesia, he regretted not asking about them. Nonetheless, he kept trying to recall the names of those foods. As the years passed and technology advanced, he was able to search for the dishes he remembered on the internet. He said that his search for those recipes lasted for ten years.The dish from the common people of India that he had eaten was called Bhindi Masala. This childhood dish inspired Aziz to participate in the major cooking competition, MasterChef. When he presented the dish to the judges, they said they genuinely loved the Indian dish prepared by Aziz.
But it wasn't easy for Aziz to gain fame from his initial success with Indian cuisine on MasterChef. Therefore, he wanted to prove to himself that he would always cook with all his heart. By 'all his heart,' he meant being consistent—consistent in ensuring that the quality and taste of his dishes would always remain the same. He believed that being a chef meant being an artist. Cooking is an art he said. As he talks about art, you might wonder why he seems so confident in stating that cooking is art, even though he's just a chef. Well, it's because he graduated with a master's degree in design and visual communication from the Bandung Institute of Technology. So he doesn't just know about food and how to cook it; he can also explain the correlation between food and art. What he meant that through cooking, the dishes could be shared with others, including his closest ones. To him, it's not just about sharing food, but sharing happiness and togetherness through the flavors experienced. And that is where the art lies. The beauty of a dish, according to Aziz.
Want to see more of Aziz Amri's art and cooking? You can find them through the links below.
