Spain to open gastronomic university

Spain to open gastronomic university

Spain is to open the world's first "gastronomic university" complete with a research laboratory to explore the mysterious chemistry of taste. Construction began last month on the Basque Culinary Centre in San Sebastian and it will be ready to accept its first intake of students in September 2011 in a building designed to resemble a pile of stacked plates.
The university will be the first of its kind to offer a four-year undergraduate degree course in culinary arts taught in both English and Spanish and one year masters degrees as well as shorter courses for cooking enthusiasts.
The private university is located in the seaside resort of San Sebastian, which already holds a reputation for some of the best gastronomical expertise in Spain. The town is home to nine restaurants who together boast a total of 16 Michelin stars. Many of the local chefs have pledged their support to the new university and will participate in the tuition on degree courses.
But it is perhaps the promise of guest lecturers such as the top chef Ferran Adria that will have aspiring chefs applying in droves. Mr Adria who owns the famed El Bulli restaurant on Spain’s Costa Brava is considered the father of molecular gastronomy and has treated those few diners lucky enough to secure a reservation at one of his tables to such rare delights as Parmesan snow and pine cone mouse. Despite hostility from Spain’s more traditional chefs, his restaurant has been voted the best in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
Spain’s minister of Science and Innovation said the time had come for gastronomy to be treated with the same seriousness as other academic subjects and given its own university degree. ”Not only is gastronomy an art, culture and an industry,” said Cristina Garmendia at the ceremony to lay the foundation stone of the new university. “It is also a technology and a science.”
Question 1 (2 points)
Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.
a) Courses at the university will last between 1 and 4 years.
b) 16 restaurants in San Sebastian have been given a Michelin star.
c) Ferran Adriá’s restaurant is very popular with both customers and cooks.
d) Cristina Garmendia thinks that it is right to teach gastronomy at university level.

Question 2 (2 points)
Answer the following questions in your own words.
a) What will the Basque Culinary Centre look like?
b) Who will teach at the university?

Question 3 (1.5 points)
Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.
a) the people accepted on a school or university course (Paragraph 1)
b promise (Paragraph 3)
c) large numbers (Paragraph 4)

Question 4 (1.5 points)
Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.
a) Adria’s restaurant has been voted the best in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
Judges ………………………..
b) Local chefs will make attractive teachers but it is Ferran Adria who will be a star guest lecturer.
Although…………………………..
c) The private university is located in San Sebastian, as it already has a reputation for the best gastronomy in Spain.
If San Sebastian ………………………………………..

Question 5 (5 points)
Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
‘Our universities and schools do not teach the things we need to know.’ Do you agree?
Self-Access Group. CEP Santander