One World, Countless Stories, Techniques, and Flavors

What connects modern gastronomy, Asian culinary traditions, and Ottoman palace cuisine? At HRC Academy, the answer is simple: curiosity for the new, respect for tradition, and a commitment to continuous growth.

Over the past week, our first-semester Culinary Arts students had the opportunity to immerse themselves in three completely different culinary worlds, guided by professionals and inspiring personalities who shared not only their knowledge and techniques but also their personal stories.

Modern Cuisine Through the Eyes of Chef Stefan Stoev

The first stop on this culinary journey was the world of modern gastronomy. Chef Stefan Stoev introduced students to the possibilities of sous-vide cooking and the principles behind the contemporary approach to food.
Students explored precision cooking techniques and learned how science and culinary arts can work together to create better flavors, textures, and dining experiences. Among the dishes they prepared were sous-vide beef tenderloin with confit potatoes and a variety of modern elements, including yogurt spheres resembling burrata, tomato flavor-explosion spheres, aromatic oils, and innovative textures that demonstrated how traditional ingredients can be presented in entirely new ways.
In modern cuisine, imagination is the key ingredient because anything can be transformed into something new and surprising.

Asia – A World of Flavors, Ingredients, and Inspiration

The next destination was Asia, presented by Chef Muzi an HRC Academy graduate who turned her passion for food into a profession after years of traveling and working in France and across Asia.
Students worked with a wide range of Asian ingredients and learned more about umami, fermentation, flavor balancing, and the art of combining different textures. The dishes they prepared included sea bass ceviche aged with kombu, Sichuan chicken salad, Indonesian vegetable curry, traditional Chinese potstickers, and Japanese steamed egg custard.
Chef Muzi also brought and introduced a variety of authentic ingredients, sharing insights into their origins, applications, and roles within different culinary traditions across the continent.
The session expanded students’ understanding of Asian cuisine beyond familiar classics and revealed just how diverse and multifaceted this culinary world truly is.

Ottoman Cuisine – When Food Tells a Story

The final class took our students on a journey back in time to the richness of Ottoman palace cuisine, presented by Sibel Redzeb.
Although she describes herself as an enthusiastic home cook and a true hedonist, Sibel possesses extensive knowledge of food history. After spending 13 years living in Istanbul, she discovered a passion for cooking, traditions, and the stories behind every dish.

During the session, she spoke about the evolution of Ottoman cuisine – a unique culinary tradition shaped by influences from the Balkans, Anatolia, the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. Students learned fascinating facts, including that Ottoman cuisine features as many as 291 varieties of sarma.
The selected recipes were inspired by the so-called “Tulip Period”- a brief yet exceptionally vibrant era in Ottoman history when flowers began to find their place not only in gardens but also in the kitchen.

To conclude the experience, students tasted Güllaç, one of the most iconic Ottoman desserts, prepared with milk cream and the delicate aroma of rose water. The recipe featured rose water from Rosey’s Mark, a brand with which we share a passion for quality ingredients, authentic flavors, and the stories that food tells. Its gentle floral aroma added the perfect finishing touch to the dessert and enhanced the sense of elegance and refinement characteristic of palace cuisine.

More Than Just a Class

What connected these three experiences was not only the recipes and techniques. They showed our students just how diverse the world of gastronomy is and how every dish is shaped by culture, history, travel, and the people behind it.
And the best part always comes at the end when everyone gathers around the same table, shares the food they have created, and the conversations continue long after the last plate has been cleared.
Because this is where the true magic of culinary arts happens in the shared experience.