KOTO was lucky enough to enjoy a visit from celebrity chef Chef Alex Fernando Salgado Sanchez, from the OCIO Restaurant, in Botoga the Capital of Columbia on Monday (19/12/2016). Claudia Liliana Zambrano Naranjo, the Charge d'Affaires at the Embassy of Columbia in Hanoi, facilitated the event during a very short visit by chef Alex to the city.
The students were very excited to meet the chef but also to be able to learn some information about Columbian food. He did a cooking demonstration in the training kitchen at the KOTO Training Centre at Yen Vien using special herbs and utensils from Columbia. There were a traditional clay cooking pot and a traditional bowl used to both cook in and serve the specific dishes he presented.
How to make Coconut rice, a popular Columbian dish influenced by the influx of African immigrants in the past, was demonstrated for the trainees, along with Salmon Ceviche.
Ms Naranjo attended the event and was accompanied by her husband, and KOTO was honoured to have the group at our centre. They presented the trainees with a white apron with a bright Columbian motif on them. Each of the trainees was also presented with a certificate for having taken part in the training event.
We would like to send our heartfelt thanks to both the Chef and the Columbian Embassy for their efforts to share their specialty food with the KOTO team.