Bachelor in Enogastronomy in Mountain Areas
Bolzano, Italy
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English, German, Italian
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
07 May 2024*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2024
TUITION FEES
EUR 1,350 / per year
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* early bird application | late application (only for EU citizens): 10 July 2024
Introduction
This program developed together with chef Norbert Niederkofler, provides you with the interdisciplinary skills you need to work in the field of healthy, sustainable mountain enogastronomy, respecting biodiversity, building on local traditions and products, and focusing on food innovation in a circular economy.
Tradition (respect for values, old processing methods, and the territory), creativity (using natural products to get the most out of their flavors), honesty (valuing the work of producers by integrating them into a virtuous circle that produces economic, social and cultural growth), innovation (using different techniques to extract the most flavor from the raw material and presenting it as naturally as possible on the plate) and sustainability (integrating processes into a circular system that simultaneously develops cuisine, the economy, and culture) are the values that guide this program.
This trilingual program aims to train food and wine experts capable of elevating food to the status of culture and giving it a new identity, on the basis of Michelin-starred chef Norbert Niederkofler's Cook the Mountain philosophy. An innovative concept that aims to rethink economic and social development by investigating the relationship between production, product, territory, and consumption to create a cuisine that is a catalyst for cultural processes to spread a model of sustainable development. The raw materials, which are often difficult to find in an impervious context such as the Dolomites or other mountain areas, are made more valuable through the recovery of traditions and the rediscovery of biodiversity with the final result of elevating food to culture and giving it a new identity. The effect is to contribute to the creation of a transversal research laboratory on gastronomy that investigates the values that, on a global level, culturally and socially unite the people who live in the mountains as a resource, passion, challenge, heritage to be protected, as well as to encourage a new way of experiencing the relationship between cuisine and mountains that combines ethics and conviviality, environmental sustainability and territorial development.
In this context, food and wine experts who graduate from this program take on the role of "emotional educators", capable of promoting a new lifestyle.
Admissions
Scholarships and Funding
The Municipality of Meran-Merano will award 5 scholarships of € 1,000 each to students enrolled in the first year of this study program in the 2023/24 academic year, of which four scholarships will be awarded to students resident in the municipality of Meran-Merano. If there are no applicants for the scholarships reserved for residents of the municipality of Meran-Merano, the scholarships will be awarded according to the general ranking list.
Curriculum
The program combines lectures, visits, and activities with farmers, and workshops, with cooking experiences with internationally renowned chefs and an internship at AlpiNN - Food Space & Restaurant, Norbert Niederkofler and Paolo Ferretti's restaurant located on the top of Kronplatz-Plan de Corones and defined as the "home of Cook the Mountain".
In the first part of the program, basic concepts of mathematics, statistics, chemistry, and biology are taught, together with sustainable plant and animal production and the historical and anthropological evolution of their use. The second year is devoted to food and wine, including processes, technologies, and organizational models, the role of microorganisms in food and how to control them, ensuring food hygiene, fermented products, as well as the financial management of small and large food and wine companies (from agritourism to catering companies at different levels of the production chain). Finally, the third year is dedicated to the visual and sensory communication of food and wine products, marketing and food law, and techniques for the recovery of by-products.
The local hospitality schools and the South Tyrolean Hotel and Restaurant Association (HGV) are also active partners.
1st Year
- Principles of Mathematics for Food and Wine Sciences
- Plant biodiversity and environmental impact assessment
- Animal Biodiversity and Environmental Impact Assessment of Agricultural Production Systems
- Elements of Chemistry and Biochemistry Applied to Food and Wine Sciences
- Mountain Agriculture: Typical Mountain Products Based on Sustainable Farming and Breeding Methods
- Food Anthropology
- Internship
- Applied Informatics
- Restaurant marketing and food law
2nd Year
- Sustainable Development in Food and Wine
- Food Microbiology and Principles of Hygiene
- Food and Wine Science and Technology and Recovery Methods of Agro-food By-products
- Business Organisation in Enogastronomy
- Management of Supplying, Working and Maintenance Processes of Catering Companies
- Information Systems for the Food and Wine Sector
- Seminar: Cook the Mountain
- Free Choice
- Internship
- Specialised Language (German, Italian, or English)
3rd Year
- Sensory Analysis and Tasting Techniques
- Microbial Fermentations in Gastronomy and Methods of Recovery of Agro-food By-products
- Internship
- Food design and immersive food-related experiences
- Internship
- Dietetics, Food Allergies and Intollerances
- Free Choice
- Thesis
Exchange Programs and Internships
The faculty offers exchange programmes with universities all over the world and unibz is part of a large network of collaborations with employers in Italy and abroad where you can undertake your mandatory internships.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Graduates work as mountain food and wine experts in technical and organizational roles with specific skills in the food sector (technology and quality control, food safety and hygiene; management of mountain food and wine production companies), maîtres hotel or kitchen managers, logistics managers, procurement experts, or managers of specialized companies such as catering companies, restaurants or companies offering typical mountain food and wine products and services (agri-tourism, food and wine tourism, e-commerce, social media, conferences, and events).
Thanks to their robust scientific, cultural, and technical skills, they will be able to take on communication roles in the media or in major companies in the food, gastronomy, catering, and wine sectors, in the management and organization of cultural events, in food and wine critique, in the regional gastronomic promotion, in the analysis of company strategies and economic/financial and cultural/artistic values (history of agriculture and food; food culture and symbolism; anthropological studies, art, and design).
Subsequently, they may also decide to continue their education by enrolling in a master's program in the fields of food science and technology, agriculture, or viticulture and enology.