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The Basque Culinary Center Foundation has been set up in San Sebastián and will be the body that will govern, administer and represent the project. At the moment the foundation is made up of the chefs who are taking an active part in the initiative: Juan Mari Arzak, Martin Berasategi, Pedro Subijana, Karlos Argiñano, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Hilario Arbelaitz, and Eneko Atxa, together with the Rector of Mondragon Unibertsitatea, Iosu Zabala.

The Foundation will also involve the institutions backing the project –which have shown their support and placed their trust in the project from the start-, amongst which are: the City Council of San Sebastian, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Basque Government and the Spanish Government, through the Ministry of Science and Innovation. There are also plans for some companies from the food sector to participate in the Foundation.

There will be two mainstays to the Basque Culinary Center: a Faculty of Gastronomic Science and a Gastronomic Science Research and Innovation Centre, which will be housed in the same space, with the aim of being among the top five in its category in the world ranking. It will be the first university of gastronomic science in Spain and the second in Europe, together with the University of Gastronomic Science in Italy, located in Piamonte.

The project will be based in San Sebastián, on a campus that will house the academic building itself and another to serve as a student hall of residence. It is a large scale project that will probably come into operation in 2011 and which will cost approximately 14 million euros and count on support and funding from many institutions.

The training centre will have four flexible classrooms; an auditorium and offices; a work area equipped with several kitchens; an experimentation area with laboratories and pastry-making, bread-making and ice-cream workshops, among others; a research area, which will be made up of workshops and laboratories; as well as common areas and restaurants. For its part, the hall of residence will have a capacity for 120 people, and will consist of 50 double rooms and another 20 single rooms.

A number of different aims come together in this project: to ensure the continuity of Basque cuisine as a focus for haute cuisine and innovation in the future, which also means the generation of high level knowledge and the training of skilled professionals; to promote research and transfer of knowledge between top level chefs and the business and knowledge sectors directly and indirectly related to gastronomy; and to achieve an international dimension that will make the country a Mecca of haute cuisine worldwide.

Another of the aims is to promote transfer of technology and innovation in the companies in the sector and the creation of new business initiatives and projects. All of this comes at an excellent time for the sector in the Basque Country, which has 16 Michelin stars in and around San Sebastian and 22 in the Basque Country as a whole.

So from 2011, the Basque Country will have a Faculty of Gastronomic Science offering innovative, highly skilled training to cover the training requirements for the professional development of top level chefs, as well as other professionals involved in the gastronomic field.

http://www.mondragon.edu