University of Gastronomic Sciences Students Go Down Under to Study Australia’s Rich Food and Wine Culture
The second-year students of the degree course in Gastronomic Sciences will be traveling half-way around the world to study a unique food culture. June 18 – July 2, 2007, will see the group of 15 international students on stage in Australia, discovering the country’s typical products, agricultural practices and culinary traditions.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences, founded by Slow Food in collaboration with the regions of Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna, is the world’s first academic institution dedicated to the study of food culture and science. An officially recognized university, it offers a degree course and two postgraduate Masters including a range of subjects relating to food and wine: from Chemistry to Anthropology, Communications to Enology, Food Technology to History. An integral part of students’ education is the stages, field seminars which take them all over the world to study on-site, learning directly from the food producers, winemakers and local experts.
In Australia the students will be based in South Australia, home to some of the country’s best food and wine. Starting in Adelaide, the students will visit the Central Market to taste local products, attend a lecture on the history of Australian agriculture at Adelaide University and visit a marine research institute to learn about South Australian aquaculture and fisheries.
Moving on to the Barossa Valley, world-renowned for its wine, the students will dine at the historic Hutton Vale winery and farm, visit the Barossa Farmers’ Market and tour organic and biodynamic farms. In the Adelaide Hills the focus will be on the relationships between farmers and the community, and the students will gather vegetables to make into soup for lunch at the Mt Barker & Duck Flat Community Garden.
From there they will reach McLaren Vale, and following a seafood barbecue at Primo Estate Winery they will learn about typical products like almonds, olives, olive oil, vinegars, cheeses and wine, before transferring to Goolwa, Australia’s first Slow City. Here they will meet with the Mayor and visit a brewery, then move on to Port Elliot for a lunch of ale-battered fish and chips. The next destination is Kangaroo Island, where they will visit an organic honey producer, a eucalyptus distillery, a sheep’s-milk cheesemaker, wineries, and abalone and freshwater-crayfish farms, giving the students an overview of the richness of the food and wine scene on this beautiful island.
A few days back in Adelaide will help students process everything they have seen over these intense days, with a visit to the National Wine Centre, Afternoon Tea with the Premier of South Australia Mike Rann, and a farewell barbecue with a typical Australian family. Then it will be time to head back to Italy, following a fascinating yet exhausting two weeks.
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