The Granada Semester: Study Abroad Program in Gastronomy

Spend a semester living in one of Spain's most beautiful, historic, and dynamic cities. Alongside learning the Spanish language from the experienced teachers, students will receive instruction in gastronomy, food history and culture, working closely with resident faculty and local experts.

By the end of the Granada Semester, students will have a knowledge of Western civilization through the perspective of food, wine, & agriculture. They will understand how the production and consumption of food & drink relate to society, economy, and culture both in the present day and throughout history. A special focus of the Granada semester is Mediterranean food culture, and numerous field trips to food markets, vineyards, and restaurants combined with culinary arts classes will give students irreplaceable first-hand experiences. Each participant in the Granada Semester will come away with a sophistiated knowledge of Mediterranean cuisine & wine, artisanal foods and farm products, and the savoire-faire demanded by today's cosmopolitan society and economy.

The City of Granada and its surroundings province make for an unsurpassed location. Gastronomy and language classes are held in the upper Albaycin neighborhood, part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that also encompasses the Alhambra Palace. Granada Province is the most geophysically diverse in Spain, running from the Costa Tropical to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The area has a classic Mediterranean climate and food tradition, is home to expansive olive groves as well as the highest viticultural area in Europe.

While there are now several study programs in gastronomy worldwide, there are few programs that ground the intellectual pursuit of food within its cultural context with practical experience on the farm, in the food market, and at the stove. The Institute of Sustainable Gastronomy program will give students both the tools to think critically about food within human civilization and also elevate the quality of food production, journalism, food promotion, and tourism in today's marketplace. The entire context of the semester program will emphasize sustainable solutions and understandings of culinary and wine production within the contemporary context of both Western Europe and North America.

The Granada Semester takes place in classroom and kitchen facilities in the historic Albaycin district, near the Alhambra Palace; arranged homestays or assistance with housing is provided for all students. Spanish language instruction forms an integral part of the program, using a well-respected language education partner, the Escuela Carmen de las Cuevas. The Granada Semester is offered to students as a stand-alone "semester abroad" program, given sufficient Spanish-language proficiency. The Institiute would be happy to discuss credit for the program with any university or college.

THE CLASSES
3 hours a day of intensive Spanish language classes from the experienced native instructors of the Escuela.

10-12 hours of afternoon gastronomy/food history/wine seminars led by Dr. Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret, with visits by local experts and field trips to food & wine destinations around Andalusia.

Day and weekend trips to food destinations are also included.

This semester will place an emphasis on food products, ingredients, and food systems as well as some instruction in practical culinary/food production techniques. Field trips will be an important component of many of the block courses.

Primary faculty: Vaughn Perret & Charles Leary, Ph.D.

Primary Text: Jean-Louis Flandrin, ed. Food: A Culinary History (European Perspectives) available in French and English; J.-L. Flandrin, M. Montanari, Histoire de l'alimentation (Paris, Fayard, 1996)

Intensive courses presented in two-week blocks:

The Mediterranean as a food region, historical & contemporary: This course will consider the Mediterranean basin as a dynamic food region encompassing numerous countries with a longstanding & intriguing history.
The New Spanish Cuisine: taking the lead in Europe. This course will consider Spain's place within the culinary landscape in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the rise to prominence of regions like the Basque country and Catalunya.
Wine & Food Pairing Master Class, including techniques of evaluation & flavor dynamics, with special exploration of the new designated wine region Vino de la Tierra Norte de Granada.
The Pyreness and the French/Spanish border: a Master Class on Regional & Sustainable Food Systems (local markets & producers; traditional production methods; regional approaches to food and cuisine; understanding a self-supporting food system in French history and contemporary French society)
The European Dining Experience: culture, aesthetics, and history plus practical wine & food pairing. Possible text: Hayagreeva Rao, Phillipe Monin and Rodolphe Durand, "Institutional Change in Toque Ville: Nouvelle Cuisine as an Identity Movement in French Gastronomy"; Paul Metzner, Crescendo of the Virtuoso: Spectacle, Skill, and Self-Promotion in Paris during the Age of Revolution (California), chapter on Careme.
Artisanal products and production techniques for wine and food, including mushrooms & wild foods, fermentation and food production, olive oil, heirloom or "typical" vegetables, specialty seafood, small-scale viticulture & vinification, etc. An important topic of this class will be an analysis of the Spanish food markets as economic, social, and cultural institutions and how lessons from the Mediterranean system might be applied elsewhere.