Workshop on Mixology - The art of cocktail and mocktail making

Inventions and innovations play a vital part in your career especially if you belong to the food and hospitality industry. Experimenting with food is a great idea for food lovers as it brings them a taste which they would have never experienced before. A new dish comes with a breath of fresh air and you get to have something different from the regular meals.

 To embrace Indian culture, people have been intrigued by adding different methods, from time to time and this culture of ‘Crafty Cuisine’ whets the appetite with some more added flavor. Merging of different flavors into different techniques has always been in fashion and to explore more on the concept of ‘Mixology’ Students of Jagran School of Hospitality and Tourism had a workshop on this. Mixology is the art of cocktail and mocktail where you get to know not only about the drinks and their traits but also the after results of the merging of alcoholic beverages. 

The workshop was conducted by Mr. Durgesh Rai, Director – Shake and Flair Academy and Mr. Niranjan Patel, Head Faculty – Shake and Flair Academy, Bhopal.

It had four different sessions in total. Beginning with the introduction of the bar, the speakers briefed about the opportunities in the bartending profession to classification of alcoholic beverages. The second session was on making of spirits where the speakers demonstrated live making of spirit through basic pot still apparatus. 

The students were told about the difference between pot still method and continuous still method. The third session was on the classification of methods of cocktail such as whiskey sour, mojito, cinnamon sour (signature cocktail invented by Mr. Durgesh Rai). 

The workshop concluded on question and answer round where the speakers answered various questions of students and provided them with different tips to make cocktails professionally. 

Master Class by Chef Kunal Kapur

The very talented and nationally renowned Chef Kunal Kapur conducted a Master Class which was highly anticipated by the students and staff members of Jagran Lakecity University. 

 The highlight of the event was ‘food, Flavour and Presentation’ where the master chef threw light on various approaches of presenting food such as New Nordic, Linear and plating and saucing approach. The culinary connoisseurs spoke on the various aspects which one faces right from the preparation to presentation of fine dining cuisines.

 ‘To satiate your palate one must have proper knowledge of flavor and presentation techniques. Bring on the passion of creating exotic cuisine for palatable delight and the food which whets your appetite’ said the chef. Some of the techniques which left the students awestruck where – Wipe and Drag, The classic swoosh, Glass Bottom, Spiral, Semi Circle and Splash the sauce which were done practically by the students.

The unique collaboration of JLU School of Hospitality and Tourism and Chef Kunal Kapur will benefit students with a plethora of knowledge as they will be mentored by the chef through his special classes and visits to the university campus. Commenting on the initiative, Prof. Nafees Naqvi, Director, Jagran School of Journalism and Communication said,

 “We are delighted to have such a unique collaboration where the students will be mentored by a chef who comes such vast expanse of knowledge” Students also had question-answer round with the chef where they asked him  about  his series Pickle Nation, Curries of India and many more.