The Comillas Pontifical University and Vocento have presented this Wednesday in Madrid MACC, Madrid Culinary Campus, an innovative university center for gastronomic training, creation and exchange. This unique university initiative in the world is the sum of the experience and prestige of the Comillas Pontifical University in education and research, and of Vocento in knowledge of the gastronomic sector and communication. MACC is a pioneering academic project in the educational sector at an international level, which will combine gastronomy, agricultural and agro-environmental engineering, and business administration subjects. And in which two of the greatest references in contemporary cuisine participate, Ferran Adrià and Andoni Luis Aduriz, who have been present at the launch of the project at the Vocento headquarters.
The first promotion will begin the studies of Degree in Gastronomy and Culinary Innovation next September. You will start with a four-year degree (240 credits) and 50 available places. In the last year, students will be able to specialize in gastronomic creativity or in gastronomic business management.
Graduates will have an official European degree, recognized by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) and by the university council. The degree does not seek to train only cooks, but managers for the food industry, agricultural cooperatives and other companies in the hospitality and food sectors.
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The new Comillas and Vocento university center will also offer a complete range of training with double degrees and five master’s degrees, in addition to an important specialized training proposal aimed at improving the training of active professionals with intensive courses with the most outstanding chefs, sommeliers, international experts and managers in the sector, many of them speakers at Madrid Fusión and Gastrononomika.
During the presentation of the project, Enrique Sanz, rector of the Comillas Pontifical University, highlighted that the degree is a unique official degree in the world. “Thanks to the excellent training that we are going to offer at MACC, gastronomy can act as an engine of economic and social growth,” said the rector, who took the opportunity to ask all sectors of the food industry (which moves 33% of GDP ) their involvement in the project, either by opening their companies to student internships or by financing their studies through scholarships and sponsorships.
Ignacio Ybarra, president of Vocento, for his part, stressed that “we have been investing in gastronomy since 2017 with Madrid Fusión, Gastronomika and many other national and international forums. We also advise countries and companies on their gastronomic positioning. With MACC we continue to open the way in a strategic sector for us and, furthermore, we do it with a partner that guarantees excellence”, he indicated.
The chef Andoni Luis Aduriz; Ignacio Ybarra, president of Vocento; Enrique Sanz, rector of the Comillas Pontifical University and chef Ferran Adrià
Oscar Chamorro
MACC intends to become Madrid “in an agora of gastronomy”, said Benjamín Lana, general director of Vocento Gastronomía, “a space in which undergraduate and postgraduate students will meet at the same time, as well as active professionals from the different branches of the culinary and food sector. Lana said that the MACC project goes beyond what is established, but that it is very well thought out as a result of four years of work together with the Comillas Pontifical University. “Today is one of the happiest days of my life”, he added to underline the illusion that exists around the MACC.
The chef who led the last great gastronomy revolution, Ferran Adrià, and one of the most disruptive on the international scene, Andoni Luis Aduriz, participate in the development of the MACC, characterized by innovation and creativity. The academic projection of all the work of the elBulli Foundation, with the Sapiens methodology, forms part of the academic heart of MACC.
MACC will also offer double degrees, master’s degrees and specialized courses, and will have scholarships for students
MACC is the first university center in the world to raise Adrià’s great contributions in the last decade to the highest academic standards, including the Bullipedia, the encyclopedic and colossal work of culinary knowledge (more than fifty volumes) that he is developing.
For its part, the Mugaritz restaurant, run by Andoni Luis Aduriz, is working on the development of a pioneering master’s degree that will be taught at the MACC. Students who enroll will be able to continue their training in a context focused on creativity and innovation. In addition, it will have an open classroom, led by the Basque chef, in which reflection and creativity will coexist from the perspective of disseminating disruptive thinking.
During the presentation ceremony, Ferran Adrià, a member of the MACC advisory board, said “that today is a very happy day for everyone” and pointed out that the MACC “is going to be a place for thought and debate. We have the wickers to do something important and now we have to do it. Adrià recalled that gastronomic universities have only existed for twenty years, an advantage “because there is a lot to do” and also a drawback “because the ‘know how’ of other centuries-old disciplines does not exist. For the renowned Catalan chef, in addition to betting on creativity and innovation, MACC will teach management, and in this sense he mentioned that 90% of catering establishments lack an annual budget and 50% do not last more than five years open. “I have never seen such a difficult business in my life.”
Ferran Adrià, through the elBulli Foundation, and Andoni Luis Aduriz have been involved in the project
Andoni Luis Aduriz, MACC’s innovation and creativity mentor, stressed that “Since its inception, Mugaritz has had a clear vocation to share knowledge and expand it. Participating in this new project is an exciting way to continue feeding the future of gastronomy”. Aduriz said that his involvement in the project is due to the institutions behind it, since he continues to be a person eager to learn. «I have never stopped learning and I believe that MACC will function as an ecosystem capable of generating knowledge and motivation. I have no doubt that we are going to do something big.”
In the first Degree in Gastronomy and Innovation, you will not only learn to cook: with the potential and educational quality of Comillas, students will also receive training in business management (Comillas ICADE) and in agronomy and sustainability, thanks to the School of Agricultural Engineering and Agri-environment (INEA).
Seats
In its early years, MACC will be housed at the MOM Culinary Institute headquarters, in a historic building on Calle Serrano in Madrid and in the former convent of the El Pardo Conceptionists. For training in business and company matters, the Comillas ICADE classrooms will be used, at the headquarters of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Alberto Aguilera. And the agronomy part will be taught at the School of Agricultural and Agro-environmental Engineering (INEA) in Valladolid.
The definitive headquarters of MACC, two newly built buildings, will be located on a plot located in the immediate vicinity of the Chamartín station, in the heart of the area of the most important urban project in the capital: Madrid Norte.
Registration for the Degree in Gastronomy and Culinary Innovation, which begins in September, is open on the web www.maccmadrid.com. To begin with, 50 places have been created.
Comillas Pontifical University and Vocento Gastronomy
The Comillas Pontifical University is a Jesuit university, which is part of the most important international network of universities in the world, that of the Society of Jesus. A centenary institution that has been a pioneer in the implementation of innovative titles in fields such as management, engineering and, now, gastronomy.
It is included in the list of the best universities in the world by the prestigious QS international ranking, which highlights the employability of its graduates. Comillas is a leader among Spanish universities in student exchange, thanks to its agreements with centers in more than 60 countries.
Registration for the Degree in Gastronomy and Culinary Innovation, which begins in September
For its part, Vocento Gastronomy is the absolute leader in Spain and one of the most prestigious international references thanks to its presence and influence in the field of major gastronomic congresses such as Madrid Fusión, the most relevant gastronomy congress in the world, San Sebastian Gastronomika and Bogota Madrid Fusion. It is also the promoter of thematic forums such as Encuentro de los Mares, Terrae, FeminAS, Andorra Taste or Worldcanic, and large popular events such as Tast a la Rambla.
The entire force of Madrid Fusión and the rest of the congresses will be connected to the new MACC campus in Madrid. The great chefs who participate in Vocento Gastronomía events will become guest professors in the degrees and professional courses. Gastronomic culture knows no borders.
Mom Culinary, MACC’s partner school
In the process of launching the project, Madrid Culinary Campus has partnered with Mom Culinary, the school that provides the best professional training in hospitality with an official title in Madrid. MACC students are going to share the Mom facilities on Calle Serrano in Madrid and the new ones in El Pardo. Both projects, the vocational training and the university, complement and strengthen each other. MOM’s FP, in fact, can be a previous step for students with more concerns to continue in the university education that MACC will offer. We share kitchens, but also values. MOM is Madrid, but also its new school in Kyoto with which MACC teachers and students will have the opportunity to interact.