Exploring Culinary Vanguard: Beyond an Experience, a Profound Understanding.

In our course, we utilize a variety of tools, including culinary experiences, interactive seminars, sessions with guest experts, and a final course project, all with a single purpose: to bring our students as close as possible to culinary vanguard and help them build their own understanding of this concept. This program is meticulously structured to not only introduce but to immerse participants in the world of culinary creativity, with the goal of mastering both enduring culinary techniques and those that are constantly evolving and developing.

Practical information

• Campus-Based Learning at Basque Culinary Center

• Academic period: may to June 2025

• Schedule: monday to Friday, 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CEST)

• 18 available spots

• Certificate from the Faculty of Gastronomic Sciences at Basque Culinary Center

• Inquiries and more information: cursosonline@bculinary.com

Program's objectives

• Understand Current and Future Trends: Participants will learn to anticipate and adapt to changes in the food industry, preparing to lead in a constantly evolving culinary world.

• Master Innovative Culinary Techniques: Participants will acquire practical skills for preparing modern and creative dishes, opening new perspectives in gastronomy.

• Explore Creativity in the Kitchen: The course aims to inspire participants to break culinary conventions and explore new forms of culinary expression.

• Develop a Personal Vision of Culinary Vanguard.

Career oportunities

We understand that professional opportunities can vary based on geographic location and individual preferences. However, with this program, participants can pursue roles and positions in the following areas:

• Creative Chef: Graduates may seek chef roles in prestigious restaurants, hotels, or gastronomic establishments, applying their refined skills to create high-quality and cutting-edge dishes.

• Gastronomic Entrepreneurs: Those interested in opening their own restaurants, cafes, or catering businesses can use the skills acquired in the course to develop unique culinary concepts and successfully lead their own ventures.

• Culinary Consultants: Graduates may offer culinary consulting services to restaurants, catering companies, or even work as independent advisors, leveraging their culinary expertise to enhance menu quality and innovation.

Are you an international student?

Students enrolled in a course with a duration of fewer than 3 months typically do not need to apply for a visa in most cases. You can check the list of countries where citizens do or do not require a visa by referring to the information provided in Annex I (scroll down to find the relevant information).

If your nationality requires a visa, you should apply for a type C (Schengen) visa to enter Spain.

International students should travel with official documentation confirming their enrollment in the course and proof of the medical insurance coverage purchased, which will provide coverage during their stay in Spain.

Aimed at/Programme

The program is aimed at individuals with the following profiles:

• Culinary professionals: Cooks, station chefs, head chefs, etc.

• Graduates in culinary studies.

If you don't see yourself reflected in the points above and are interested in the course, please don't hesitate to contact us. The course coordination team will assess your education and experience and provide you with a response.

Curriculum

Module 1: The Contemporary Chef and the Culinary Context

• Sensory Analysis

• Culinary Chemistry

• Food Quality

• Culinary History and the Milestones of Chefs

• 360° Gastronomy

Module 2: Creative and Innovative Processes

• Plate Architecture: Creative processes, methodology for innovation and creativity

• New Gastronomic Trends

• New Equipment in Cutting-Edge Restaurants

• The Vegetable Garden as a Creative Model

Module 3: Cutting-Edge Techniques. Fundamentals, Culinary Application, and Preparation of Related Dishes

• Gas and Siphon Techniques

• Vacuum Techniques: Confit, Stews, Low Temperature Cooking, and Extended Cooking

• Thickeners Utilization Techniques: Xanthan and Modified and Unmodified Starches

• Gelifiers Utilization Techniques: Spherification, Iota, Kappa, Gellan, Agar Agar, Pectins, Methylcellulose

  • Fermentation as a Preservation Method and Its New Applications in Cutting-Edge Cuisine:

  • Lactic Fermentations

  • Alcoholic Fermentations

  • Kombucha Scoby

  • Fungi: Yeasts and Molds or Enzymatic Activity

• Updated Ancestral Techniques:

  • Salting

  • Smoking

  • Curing

• Application of Techniques to the Sweet World

• Utilization and Zero Waste

• Basic Bakery Production: Methodology, Technique, and Practice.

Calendar

• Academic Period: from may to june 2025

• Schedule: monday to friday from 3:00 PM to 8:00 PM (CEST)

*Learning journeys, masterclasses, and seminars may be held in the morning if the activity requires it.

Methodology

The program is delivered using the "learning by doing" methodology, which is based on the idea that the best way to learn is through practical experience and direct action. Instead of focusing solely on theory and passive instruction, this methodology promotes students acquiring knowledge and skills by actively participating in practical activities and real projects.

In line with this approach to learning, the course features the following components:

• Readings, presentations, and reflections

• Primarily practical courses: explanation of techniques and preparation of related dishes.

• Cross-cutting content that complements the competencies to be acquired by the student: culinary chemistry, innovation, trends, etc.

• Pre-training knowledge activation assignments.

• Seminars with guest speakers and participation in activities proposed by Basque Culinary Center.

• Learning experiences: a meal at an avant-garde restaurant.

This course is also available in an online version: Online Vanguard Culinary Techniques Course.

Teachers and guests

The program is known for its commitment to providing top-quality education. While the esteemed faculty and renowned guest instructors are carefully curated to ensure an exceptional learning experience, it is believed that the element of surprise can also be a valuable part of the educational journey. As part of an ongoing commitment to excellence, instructors are selected from a pool of experts with extensive experience and pedagogical expertise, ensuring that students receive the highest level of instruction from industry leaders. Rest assured, the final lineup of educators for the course will be a delightful revelation that adds to the excitement of the learning adventure.

Fees / Grants

The total cost of the program is 4.290 €, which will be paid as follows:

• €150 upon application (fully refundable if not admitted).

• 40% of the amount, 1.656 €, upon confirmation of admission as a reservation fee.

• The remaining amount, 2.484 €, two weeks before the start of the program.

The price includes:

• Academic materials.

• Basque Culinary Center uniform.

• Issuance of the degree/diploma.

• Enrollment in the Basque Culinary Center alumni service: Bculinary Alumni.

Financing options

We have financing agreements with Banco Sabadell, Caixa Bank, and Caja Rural. For more information, please contact cursos@bculinary.com.

• *Offers are valid for residents in Spain. Please inquire in your home country about financing options with institutions you trust.

Options for discount

This course offered by Basque Culinary Center is partially eligible for FUNDAE funding. If you are interested in funding this course, please request more information at cursos@bculinary.com.

Refund and cancellation policy

Please refer to the detailed information regarding the refund policy.

Admisision

The Basque Culinary Centre has a system of admissions that aims to ensure that our students have the academic level and personal competences required to complete the study plan successfully.

Student service

Accommodation

More information about accommodation here

Other accommodation options

Religious residences

These types of residence are small and have restricted entrance times. The rooms can be single or double and they do not always have an ensuite bathroom. Those that offer full board may not offer all the meals at weekends. Admission to these residences entails a personal interview with the families. The prices given below are approximate.
 

Female residences

Male residences

Secular residences

These are mixed and are larger than the religious residences. As a general rule, they do not have entrance times.

Mixed residences

Accommodation in shared flats

Prior authorisation from interested parties, the BCC Students'Office favours contact among admitted students so that they can organise themselves to share flats. Traditionally, students have created groups in social media to contact each other. The BCC also informs students about rented flat offers that the owners send us. The average price per student in a shared flat in Donostia-San Sebastian is around €300 per month.

Procedures before travelling

Students from European Union member countries, Norway, Switzerland. Liechtenstein and Iceland will not require a visa to reside in Spain.

Other international students will have to request a long-term student visa which will allow them to reside in Spain for a period longer than 180 days.

Visas should be requested from, and issued by the Diplomatic Missions and Spanish Consul Offices abroad.  It is important to obtain information on the required documentation and gather it as soon as possible, since the relevant authorities may take up to two months to notify that visas will be granted.

Once students have arrived in Donostia-San Sebastian, they have one month from the time of their arrival to request the foreign students’ card at the Foreign Residents Office in Donostia-San Sebastian. The students’ office of the BCC will provide the necessary information to students in this matter.

Sport service

Through the MU Sports Service, students can access team sports as well as individual sporting activities and Group trips (weekend skiing, surfing trips….).

Donostia-San Sebastian also has an extensive offer of municipal sporting facilities. The Kirol Txartela (sport card) permits access to all the city’s municipal facilities at a very economical price. For more information, go to the following link.

Cost of living info

Information on the COST OF LIVING in San Sebastian is given below:

Donostia - San Sebastián

Donostia-San Sebastian is the administrative capital of Gipuzkoa, one of the territories that integrates the Basque Country. There are two official languages: Spanish and Basque.

On the banks of the Bay of Biscay,, Donostia-San Sebastián is a small town within a natural framework of incomparable beauty. A holiday destination for monarchs and nobles during the Belle Epoque, Donostia-San Sebastian arose as a lordly city where tradition and modernity exist side by side.

If there is something that can compete with its spectacular beauty that is its gastronomy: cradle of the “new Basque cuisine”, Mecca of culinary avant-garde and the world capital of the pintxo, Donostia-San Sebastian is the city with the most Michelin stars per square metres in the world. The importance of its restaurants, its famous gastronomic societies and the quality of its raw material convert Donostia-San Sebastian into a gastronomic reference in the world. Not in vain, the British magazine, “Which”, chose Donostia-San Sebastian as the best gastronomic destination in the world.

Over the last few years, innovation and sustainability have been the two main pillars for the development of Donostia-San Sebastian, which has fostered an ideal city of pedestrians and bicycles.

Why study gastronomy in Donostia-San Sebastian?:

• ecause in Donostia-San Sebastian, as in the rest of the Basque Country, gastronomy forms part of society and good food is present at any event and celebration. Donostia-San Sebastian, a city of 185,000 inhabitants, has 120 gastronomic societies.
• Because four of the eight restaurants with three Michelin stars in Spain are in the Basque Country, three of them in Donostia-San Sebastian.
• Because of its cultural offer, which includes internationally renowned film and jazz festivals. Donostia-San Sebastian has been named as European Capital of Culture for 2016.
• Due to its beaches, ideal for practicing surf all year round.
• Due to its mountains, just 2.5 hours from the Pyrenees.
• Because it is a safe, accessible and welcoming city.

How to reach Donostia-San Sebastian

Donostia-San Sebastian is connected to the main Spanish cities by bus, train and plane. The airport of Donostia-San Sebastian is 20 kilometres from the city. It is a small airport with direct flights from Madrid and Barcelona. It has a bus service to the city centre. The international airport of Bilbao is one hour from Donostia-San Sebastian, and it is connected to the city with a frequent bus service from the actual airport. The international airport of Biarritz is 45 minutes away although it only offers a direct bus to Donostia-San Sebastian once a day. DISTANCE IN KMS.

• Bilbao – 99 km
• Biarritz – 50 km
• Madrid – 450 km
• Barcelona – 570 km

BCulinary Alumni

You can access all the information in the following link.