Ana Mucić, Gastronomy student at Aspira is the first student of Argeta Exclusive Academy. Read about her experience!

Practical training is an integral part of every Aspira study program from the first year of study. It is a way for Aspira’s students to learn directly from the market which will be of great importance to them in the future when looking for employment. Read about what Ana Mucić, a student of Gastronomy and the winner of the first Argeta Exclusive Academy, has to say about her experience.
“I did my practical training in a slightly more specific way than usual. In October 2019, I was selected as the first student of the Argeta Exclusive Academy, so my internship included working in three different locations, three different restaurants, different concepts, techniques as well as a different outlook on gastronomy in general.
I started my training in February in restaurant “JB restavracija” in Ljubljana with head chef Janez Bratovž, who is also the owner of the restaurant. I spent the first days doing auxiliary jobs like peeling, chopping, blanching, frying, etc., but as the days went by and as I got to know the kitchen and the concept of work better, the chef asked me to do more and more complex things. We spent most of our working time preparing individual items that we needed later to prepare the meals. I had the opportunity to make homemade cottage cheese, pickle vegetables, make sunroot chips, the famous French dessert “macaron”, homemade pasta, tuna carpaccio served with mayonnaise and wasabi. We also made a dessert called “baba”, where you bake the biscuit, dip it in English cream and freeze it. Before serving, the iced pieces of biscuit are soaked in hot butter and served in a deep base of English cream. We would put strawberry jam and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
The second restaurant where I did my practice was “Grič” which is located in Šentjošt nad Horjlom, also in Slovenia not far from Ljubljana. The head chef and the owner of the restaurant was Luka Košir who was Janez’s student. This restaurant was very interesting as well. In my view, the month spent in Luka’s kitchen was a whole new world of gastronomy for me. So many ideas, ambitions, innovations and love for gastronomy combined in so many different dishes opened up completely new perspectives for me. My enthusiasm was influenced by the so-called “kitchen greetings” we did, such as homemade salted anchovies with basil mayonnaise, fresh radish in pistachio cream topped with sour wild onions, tapioca chips with caviar and cottage cheese, crackers with seeds, goat cheese and chicken skin chips, etc. The most specific dish I had the opportunity to make was certainly watermelon carpaccio.
The third destination of my professional training was in Istria and it was as special as Istria itself is. The owner and chef of the restaurant “San Rocco” was Teo Ferentich. I started my training in San Rocco at the end of July, during the peak of the summer season. Although I had the opportunity to try making many dishes while being part of workshops at Aspira’s, the restaurant showed a wide array of novelties and innovations that I did not have the opportunity to meet. My favourite part was making ice cream which we served as a pre-dessert. Since it was summer, we had a lot of fresh fruits such as melons, figs, pears, apricots, peaches, etc. We used black truffles in almost all dishes, guests love it and it goes well with everything. The favourite dessert for the guests was the basil cake, but we also received praise for the lemon pudding with cocoa and the modern apple strudel. Every week, fresh scallops arrived, which we would fry briefly in olive oil and serve wrapped in bacon with fennel chips and plum gel. I would single out tortellini with donkey meat cooked using the sous vide technique as the most special meal I had the opportunity to make.”