Students Will Spend Semester at Ancient Castle in Puglia
Hyde Park, NY – Future chefs and food business
leaders studying at The Culinary Institute of America can now immerse
themselves in an academic concentration in Italian cuisines and
culture that includes a 15-week study trip to Italy. The concentration for
students pursuing CIA bachelor’s degrees features a semester
abroad at the Castello di Ugento, a
newly restored 900-year-old castle in Puglia, the heel of Italy’s “boot.” The program
begins in January 2017 in collaboration with the Puglia Culinary Center and
will be offered in both spring and fall semesters.
In addition to learning about Italian culture, indigenous
ingredients, and culinary techniques, the CIA students traveling to Italy for the
program will participate in “field trips” to markets, wineries, and local producers
of products such as olive oil and cheese. Each student will also complete a
three-week internship at a restaurant serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine.
“In the Italian Cuisines concentration, students will cook
and learn within the historical and cultural contexts of southern Italy,” says
CIA Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Michael Sperling.
“They will interact with chefs, growers, and food producers, and participate in
the restaurant culture of Puglia. It is truly an immersion into that region.”
The student “dorm” is a restored 18th century farmhouse in
the city of Ugento, a 10-minute bike ride from the
castle where their classes will be held. Cooking classes take place in a new
8,500-square-foot environmentally sustainable teaching kitchen within the
castle. The restored Castello also has an area dedicated to teaching desserts
and gelato, an “oleoteca” to study olive oil, and a
400-year-old wine cellar retrofitted with modern oenology technology. More than
100 varieties of herbs and fruits are harvested from a 300-year-old garden on
the property.
“To be a true chef of Italian cuisine, you must master all
the different techniques, tastes, and textures of the cuisines of the various
Italian regions. The cuisine of Puglia, with its use of vegetables and fish, became
the basis for other Mediterranean cuisines,” says Odette Fada,
house chef and director of the Puglia Culinary Center. “I am delighted to be
part of this collaboration with the CIA and look forward to sharing my
enthusiasm for this land and its cuisine with our international guests.”
Italian Cuisines joins the concentration in Asian Cuisine Studies as CIA
international semester abroad opportunities. That program, which launched in
2016, is based at the CIA’s campus in Singapore. Other concentrations for CIA juniors and seniors are held at
the college’s three U.S. campuses and include Advanced Concepts in Baking and
Pastry; Advanced Wine, Beverage, and Hospitality; “Intrapreneurship;”
and Latin Cuisine Studies.
“This newest CIA education program continues to expand both the
international and domestic learning opportunities available to CIA students,”
Dr. Sperling says. “The world cuisines concentrations
allow students to learn about cuisines in their own terroir. During their semester away from campus, they fully experience the
regions from which the ingredients come.”
Photo Captions and Hi-Res Images:
Photo 1 (top photo): Castello
di Ugento in Ugento, Italy
is home base for the semester abroad for students in The Culinary Institute of
America's new academic concentration in Italian cuisines. At the base of the
castle is a 110-year-old cultivar of orange trees. (Photo credit: Roberto Corvaglia)
View hi-res images >
Photo 2: CIA
students pursuing the college's new concentration in Italian cuisines will
spend 15 weeks in Puglia, studying at Castello di Ugento.
The restored castle features a walled kitchen garden under an Angevin defense tower. (Photo
credit: Roberto Corvaglia)
View hi-res images >
Photo 3: Restoration
work continues on the ceiling of the throne room of Castello di Ugento, a 900-year-old castle in Puglia, Italy. Beginning
next January, the castle will be home to CIA students spending a semester
abroad as part of the college's academic concentration in Italian cuisines. (Photo credit: Roberto Corvaglia)
View hi-res images >
Media Contacts:
CIA, Jeff Levine
845-451-1372
j_levine@culinary.edu
Castello di Ugento, Beverley Luckings
+39 3336778230
beverley@beverleyluckings.com
About The Culinary Institute of America
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is the world’s premier
culinary college. Dedicated to driving leadership development for the
foodservice and hospitality industry, the independent, not-for-profit CIA
offers bachelor’s degrees in food business management, culinary science, and
applied food studies; associate degrees in culinary arts and baking and pastry
arts; and executive education through its Food Business School. Its conferences
and consulting services have made the CIA the think tank of the food industry
in the areas of health & wellness, sustainability, world cuisines &
cultures, and professional excellence & innovation. The college also offers
certificate programs and courses for professionals and enthusiasts. Its
worldwide network of 49,000 alumni includes leaders in every area of
foodservice and hospitality. The CIA has campuses in New York, California,
Texas, and Singapore.
About Castello di Ugento
Castello di Ugento, as it looks today, is a 17th-century
residential castle in the heart of the Salento region
of Puglia in southern Italy. It has been in the d’Amore family since
1643, but its history spans not just centuries but millennia.
There has been a fortification on this site in the tiny town of
Ugento for hundreds years prior and during recent
renovations not only have the remains of the original Norman tower
been
discovered, but also artifacts from the Bronze Age. Now it is about
to enjoy a
renaissance: a groundbreaking renovation and restoration project
begun in 2012
is drawing to a close. A new era for the castle is about to begin.
In the 21st
century, these ancient walls will house the state-of-the-art Puglia
Culinary
Center, a museum, a contemporary exhibition space, and a luxury
boutique hotel
with its restaurant Il Tempo Nuovo.
Castello di Ugento is at www.castellodiugento.com and on Instagram: castellougento.
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