The Italian job: school takes a task of teaching authentic cooking

Nation's Restaurant News, March 1, 2004 by Art Siemering

Excellence courses for professional chefs also are offered. Those specialization courses for working chefs are offered in three-day or weeklong modules to avoid the need for prolonged absences from work. The various units address basic techniques, fundamental recipes of Italian cuisine and Italian food products as well as specific menu courses, such as soups, pasta and rice, meat, fish, vegetables and desserts.

Intensive one-week course modules are offered for new graduates of schools specializing in catering and hotel management. And a special section of Alma will be dedicated to courses for amateurs and the gastronomy enthusiasts known worldwide as foodies.

In the course of being launched, Alma drew support from a lengthy list of partners. Prominent among them are the province of Parma, the Confederation of Cooperatives of Emilia Romagna and the consortiums behind that region's most famous food and beverage products, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Parma ham, Bolognese wines and traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena.