Culinary Arts, Innovation and Kitchen Management

Who the course is for

Graduates and gastronomy professionals with experience in the sector who wish to broaden and deepen their knowledge in this field.
Graduates in Hotel Management
Graduates in areas of gastronomy and culinary arts.
Professionals in the sector with two years of proven work experience in different areas of a professional kitchen
Note: those who do not have a previous university degree will be entitled to receive, under the same conditions, a certificate of attendance granted by the Fundació UdG: Innovació i Formació.

Entry requirements

University degree in the field of gastronomy.
University degree not related to gastronomy but with proven experience in professional kitchens (minimum 2 years).
Professionals with a minimum of two years of proven experience in different areas of a professional kitchen.

Presentation

The Master in Culinary Arts, Innovation and Kitchen Management is the evolution of the current Master. The gastronomy sector, and especially the kitchen, is very dynamic and meets the needs of an increasingly educated and informed clientele. For this reason, the EUHT SStPOL has updated the contents to adapt them to this need and to the technical and technological innovations of the sector. Likewise, and following the previous program, the aspects and competencies related to management and leadership in the kitchen or other gastronomic businesses are broadened and deepened to provide students with the necessary skills to lead, manage, motivate and retain talent. There are several reasons to carry out a course like this, but we will point out the following ones:

1.The majority of cooking professionals are capable of making more or less mechanical elaborations of the products that make up the dishes that are served to the customer. Companies in the sector lack professionals who can carry out an adequate planning to the trends and needs of the clientele, who are competent in the treatment and conservation of the raw material and know the critical points of their risks, who alsoº know how to apply the new technologies both computer and technical to the work in a kitchen and finally who organize and supervise the administrative work of control of costs of the kitchen, besides carrying out the negotiations to make a good purchase process.

2.The training in culinary arts and kitchen management in this master's degree responds to the sector's need to improve the skills (upskill) of kitchen professionals in order to adapt them to new needs.

Aims

To acquire the management and administration skills of a kitchen department and/or a gastronomic business.
To apply the different cooking techniques according to the type of traditional, modern, avant-garde and thematic cuisine.
To apply new culinary techniques: vacuum, molecular cuisine, nitrogen, etc.
To know and analyze the experiences and trends in creativity and innovation in the kitchen.
To adapt to culinary trends, apply creative processes in the kitchen and constant research.
To master the documentary planning processes of the gastronomic offer of any category of events and control their costs.
To apply the processes of systematization and standardization in the preparation of the gastronomic offer of different types of events.
To acquire the skills required to direct and manage a kitchen or any gastronomic business.

Professional outings

Chef de cuisine
Chef de partie
Executive Chef
Gastronomic consultant
Head of the R&D department
Gastronomic Entrepreneur
Gastronomic consultant

Syllabus Unfold syllabus

Principles of european haute-cuisine

3 ECTS

European Haute cuisine has, and has had, a strong influence on the world's culinary arts. However, and thanks to the mobility brought by globalization, there are other traditional cuisines with which it merges. The objective of this course, since most of the students come from cultural areas other than Europe, is to provide students with a vision of the basics of European cuisine. The course has a theoretical part, but most of the teaching activity will be carried out in the kitchen in a practical way.

Healthy cooking

3 ECTS

This subject provides the fundamental knowledge of healthy integrative cooking to be applied transversally throughout the master's degree, since it is intended to provide students with a holistic view of the current cuisine.

Introduction to sustainability and circular economy in the kitchen and catering establisments

3 ECTS

This subject is an introduction to sustainability and circular economy, understood from its three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. This introduction lays the theoretical foundations for its transversal application to the rest of the Master’s degree subjects, especially those involving the handling, transformation and use of the product. The subject will also provide students with knowledge of the latest trends in the HORECA sector related to this subject.

Executive chef training

6 ECTS

The professional structure of the kitchen field, the profile of the workforces (increasingly multicultural) as well as the dynamics of the catering labor market are crucial aspects that must be addressed so that future chefs know how to manage the staff under their charge. This subject focuses on internal communication in the kitchen, leadership skills, coaching, emotional intelligence management, motivation, mentoring, team building, negotiation and different cutting-edge techniques. This subject provides the necessary techniques and tools that an executive chef needs to manage the kitchen in the following areas: cost management, purchasing management and process management, as well as the fundamental principles of sales through techniques such as menu engineering. This subject also aims to provide students with knowledge of the different software and computer tools applied to the kitchen (excel, app, purchasing, etc.) for the daily management of the kitchen (budgets, food cost sheet, recipes and others).

Nutrition and science in the kitchen

3 ECTS

This subject aims to provide students with the principles of human nutrition and dietetics as well as the principles of food biochemistry. Food safety is an essential topic of the subject.

Culinary tecniques

6 ECTS

This eminently practical subject explores the different culinary techniques and their evolution. It is closely related to the subject of Products and raw materials. The main techniques studied are: Gratin, oven /roasting baking, steaming, grilling, griddle cooking, sauteing, frying and sweating, boiling, bain-marie, canning, smoking, stewing. Microwave, humid air, vacuum, pressure Extraction of flavors, infusion of essences, distillation, natural dehydration and thematic cuisine. In turn, and as pointed out in the Healthy Cooking course, the techniques used will be focused on the precepts of healthy cooking,

Products and raw materials

6 ECTS

Areas of study: Physico-chemical transformations of food, organoleptic qualities of raw materials ,products suitable for specific dietary needs, reception, pre-processing and preservation processes ,portioning and cutting processes, product wastage and use of products, Denominations of origin , Gastrobotanic, zero waste cooking.

Creativity, innovation and avant-garde cuisine

3 ECTS

Latest avant-garde techniques: molecular, nitrogen, low temperature, vacuum, etc. Applied to the latest culinary trends. Cooking is an art and as such must be based on principles that any student must know in order to create and co-create. This subject aims to provide students with the principles of the scientific method as well as different techniques that provide a holistic view of creativity and innovation.

Customer experience creation and sensory analysis

3 ECTS

The gastronomic experience is a comprehensive experience for this reason, in this subject the theoretical bases of the experiential world in the culinary field are presented with a broad view that includes extra-culinary aspects, but always linked to gastronomy. Gastrophysics and sensory analysis studies are also included.

Sommellerie and food pairing

3 ECTS

Study the relationship between wine and gastronomy in general. This subject also exposes the basic principles of the management of the establishment or point of sale that offers wine products, with emphasis on their supply, conservation and cost management.

Technology, facilities and equipment

3 ECTS

The objective of this course is for students to learn and recognize different techniques and technologies applied to the product, from the most traditional, such as ferments, to the most avant-garde and their different applications. At the same time, the principles applicable to the organization of the kitchen will be examined from the point of view of the facilities and the equipment.

Design and menu architecture

3 ECTS

The dining experience must be embodied in different elements, from the visible to the invisible, from the tangible to the intangible to meet the high expectations of today's clients. This requires methods and tools that provide the chef with the essential skills and techniques to design attractive menus and presentations that bring aesthetic and experiential value to the menu.

Gastromarketing, communication and knowledge transfer

3 ECTS

The objective of this course is for students to acquire basic knowledge of the marketing of the gastronomic business. The syllabus of this course is related to creativity and innovation, so the transfer of knowledge is an essential part of the subject. In addition, this course aims to train students in internal communication techniques as a basis for negotiation and staff motivation as leaders.

Kitchen internship

6 ECTS

The curricular kitchen internship is carried out in two phases (both compulsory): a) a period of 3 weeks in the restaurant L'Ermita; b) a period of 4 to 6 months in a haute cuisine restaurant.

Mater's Final Project

6 ECTS

The Master's Final Project is the synthesis of the knowledge acquired during the course. In the Master's Degree in Culinary Arts, Innovation and Kitchen Management, it is materialized through the design and execution of a haute cuisine gastronomic menu. In this project, in addition to designing and executing the proposed gastronomic offer, the management techniques of the gastronomic field must be developed to demonstrate its economic viability and sustainability from the three fundamental pillars: economic, environmental and social.

Qualification

Master in Culinary Arts, Innovation and Kitchen Management by the University of Girona*

* Does not include the fee for the issuing of the diploma

Note: those who do not have a previous university degree will be entitled to receive, under the same conditions, a certificate of attendance awarded by the Fundació UdG: Innovació i Formació

Teaching and Assessment

The content taught in the subjects that make up the curriculum integrates conceptual, procedural and attitudinal knowledge that students must be able to apply in the final project of the master's degree with the incorporation of managerial skills in decision making, problem solving, team management and others required by gastronomy, catering and hotel catering companies.

The master's degree consists of a high percentage of practical classes, together with theoretical classes, demonstrative classes given by professionals in the sector, masterclasses given by prestigious Michelin-starred chefs, as well as professional visits to restaurants, suppliers and gastronomic events. It is an eminently practical master's degree.

The practical contents are ensured by doing real external internships in prestigious catering and hotel companies adapted to the student's profile, as well as in the hotel-school's restaurant (directed by cooking teachers) before starting the external internship period.

Evaluation system

– Compulsory attendance to 80% of the classes.
– Continuous evaluation.
– Evaluation of performance in the practical classes.
– Participation in demonstration sessions.
– Presentation, before an academic and professional tribunal, of the master's degree final project.
– Completion of internal and external internships and their corresponding reports.

Lifelong Learning Master's Degree

Culinary Arts, Innovation and Kitchen Management

Reasons for doing the course

External practices