News

José Andrés, New ICC Dean

03 May 2012

America’s top Spanish chef has been named Dean of a Spanish culinary program.

A new curriculum of Spanish studies marks the official transformation of The French Culinary Institute into the International Culinary Center.

Top 100 TIME personality José Andrés has added a new title to his vast curriculum with his designation as Dean of the new program of Spanish studies at the International Culinary Center, one of the best valued academic centers for culinary arts in America.

The program, to be developed by José Andrés and Colman Andrews, an American food writer and a specialist in Spanish flavors, will attempt to create a concept that portrays the true spirit of Spanish cuisine in America. The Spanish studies program seeks to immerse future chefs in the art, history and future of Spanish cuisine, with a view to developing a new generation of cooks, who will also help innovate a cuisine that has become more and more popular. The curriculum will encompass lessons of Spanish history, geography, regional and cultural differences, along with a comprehensive program of traditional and modern cuisine in Spain, including cooking instruments, techniques, tapas, foods, desserts and Spanish wines.

“I am deeply honored to have been named Dean of the International Culinary Center and to have the opportunity of working with such a great group of prestigious chefs I have long admired,” said José Andrés. “When I arrived in America two decades ago I knew I wanted to share Spanish history but I never foresaw how well America would adopt Spanish cuisine. Spain’s contribution to America dates back to the foundation of this country, but Spanish modern culture is something a lot of people are still in the process of discovering,” declared the Chef, who explained this new program will offer an opportunity to train and educate, but also to promote tourism and cultural exchanges with the aim of generating jobs.

José Andrés is the ninth and most recent member of the Center’s leader deans, a list that includes names as Jacques Pépin or Maître Chocolatier Jacques Torres. The Spanish studies program was a longtime dream of the ICC, which in 2006 hosted in New York the Congress “Spain’s 10: Cocina de Vanguardia”. The ICC has centers in New York, San Francisco, and the Italian city of Parma.

In the past, José Andrés also became academically involved with the Culinary Institute of America, whose memorable “Spain and The World Table” conference he presided over in 2006 in Napa Valley.

For more information about this new program and a video of José Andrés on the future of Spanish cuisine at the ICC, visit this website.