Mediterranean Cuisine: Exploring Cultures, Traditions, and Flavors
With so much emphasis on health and wellness in the food world today, it makes perfect sense for you to focus on Mediterranean cuisine—long recognized as one of the world’s most naturally healthy diets. During this concentration, you’ll live in exciting Barcelona, Spain for a semester and study at the Torribera Mediterranean Center just minutes outside the city. This deep dive into the foods of the Mediterranean Basin immerses you in the history and cultures of this influential region. You’ll examine the Iberian Peninsula, southern and northern cuisines, and the Mediterranean diet itself.
Program Highlights:
- Learn about key historical, political, and socio-cultural contexts that have defined the food cultures of the Mediterranean region.
- Examine factors that shaped the culinary traditions of the region, including wealth and poverty, feasts and customs, and sustainability.
- Build your understanding of the Mediterranean diet in traditional and innovative applications from both a nutritional and culinary perspective.
- Assess this cuisine with an eye on plant-forward trends of the 21st century.
- Explore and evaluate key social and cultural elements causing the decline of the region’s adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet, and advance the diet elsewhere around the world.
Travel Highlights:
- Learn about indigenous ingredients at their source—local farms, markets, and wineries.
- Experience the culture, history, and the food with field trips to museums and restaurants.
- Explore the region, including a week-long trip to Andalusia, Spain.
Student Takeover
Here’s a taste of what you will experience during your time abroad.
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The Torribera Mediterranean Center: Food, Health, Culinary Innovation is a joint initiative of the University of Barcelona and the Culinary Institute of America, and is the world’s only academic center focused on preserving and advancing the Mediterranean Diet and the application of its principles.
Only students in the Food Business Management degree, Applied Food Studies degree, or bachelor’s degree completion program are eligible for this concentration.