The first step in creating a body of international gastronomic knowledge
Colorno – The University of Gastronomic Sciences is officially opening
its campus at Colorno (PR) with a first international conference,
“Teaching Gastronomy”,
to be held on 28 and 29 May 2004. “The conference is being organized
due to the growing need to meet the demand from around the world for
food and wine education of a high academic level” states Alberto
Capatti, Academic and Scientific Coordinator of the Association of
Friends of the University of Gastronomic Sciences.
“The presentations planned for the conference aim to share personal and
professional experiences and to suggest teaching and research
approaches for the newly created university” comments Vittorio Manganelli,
Director of the Association. The contributions made during the
conference will help to formulate the structure and clarify course
content of the Gastronomic Sciences program, focusing on the different
areas of history, science, communication and organizational policies.
The conference will welcome a number of well-known figures from food
culture world-wide, both as speakers and as invited guests who will
participate in the planned discussions over the two days. These
sessions will be closed to the public.
Barbara Santich, Director of the Gastronomy program at the
University of Adelaide, Australia, observes that “the main requisite
for teaching gastronomy is to understand it in all its various
manifestations”. In Colorno Barbara Santich will describe the Cordon
Bleu Graduate Program in Gastronomy organized in collaboration with the
University of Adelaide. “It is necessary to provide students with an
in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of food, from the kitchen
to gastronomic literature”.
Other speakers include Claudio Peri, lecturer in Food and
Microbiological Technologies at the University of Milan, who states
that “the need for a scientific approach to issues of quality, food
safety and production is also extending to gastronomy, through a new
professional qualification for those working in the restaurant and
catering sector”. This is evident from the ever more complex issues
surrounding the concept of food quality (authenticity and safety,
nutritional and sensory quality, intangible qualities or qualities
associated with the context of production, quality of service,
requirements of the commercial system, systems of guarantees and
traceability).
The celebrated British journalist Hugh Johnson will also be
present at the Colorno conference, giving a detailed description of his
experiences in the world of food and wine journalism. After starting
out as a travel writer in the 1960s, he wrote The World Atlas of Wine
and became a world authority on the history and production of wine. He
calls himself a “diligent dilettante” and at Colorno will examine
issues connected with gastronomic journalism.
Another high-profile participant will be HervÈ This of INRA, the
National Institute of Agronomic Research in Paris, who sees molecular
gastronomy as a union of passion, art and technology. “A simple canapÈ,
if eaten with three friends and lovingly prepared can be a true
delicacy for the palate: we taste the love with which it has been
prepared and the affectionate friendship of our companions” states
This, going on to say that the same canapÈ is even better if prepared
as art, but the artisan or artist must of course know how to produce
the food dish.
Created in 1988, molecular gastronomy is a scientific discipline
covering gastronomy in general, and cooking in particular, from a
molecular perspective, linking to the chemistry and physics of food.
FRIDAY 28 MAY 2004
MORNING SESSION
10.00 – 13.00
Welcome, overview of conference, introduction to speakers:
• Carlo Petrini
• Alberto Capatti
The history of food and cuisine: organization of courses, subjects,
teaching, professional profiles and academic objectives. Three
experiences compared.
Speakers:
• Barbara Santich – University of Adelaide, Australia
• Massimo Montanari – University of Bologna
• Antoni Riera-Melis – Institut de Studis Catalans, Spain
AFTERNOON SESSION
15.00 – 18.00
Science, technology and control systems in creating a gastronomic
culture. The role of scientific information in acquiring knowledge of
food and culinary transformation.
Speakers:
• Claudio Peri – University of Milan
• Giorgio Calabrese – University of Piacenza
• Tim Lang – University of London, UK
SATURDAY 29 MAY 2004
MORNING SESSION
10.00 – 13.00
Language and mass-media: the role of the press, television and
advertising in acquiring a gastronomic culture. The instruments of a
critical approach to globalized food habits and educating free,
discerning and informed consumers.
Speakers:
• Corby Kummer – journalist, United States
• Hugh Johnson – journalist, UK
• Alberto Capatti – Association of Friends of the University of Gastronomic Sciences
AFTERNOON SESSION
14.30 – 17.00
From learning in the family and society to university education.
Teaching how to produce, teaching how to understand products and
culinary techniques: gastronomic education and its agricultural and
social roots.
Speakers:
• HervÈ This – INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research) France
• Vandana Shiva – Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, India
• Bernward Geier – IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements), Germany
• Carlo Petrini – President Slow Food