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ALMA – The School of Italian Culinary Arts

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Why choose ALMA – The School of Italian Culinary Arts?

ALMA is an International Vocational Culinary School focused on the Italian Food Fine dining Cuisine and the Italian Style in the Hospitality Business and recognized as the most renowned school in Italy and abroad as higher education centre of specialization in Italian Cuisine. ALMA headquarters is located in the heart of the Food Valley inside the beautiful Ducal Palace of Colorno, in the countr...

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ALMA – The School of Italian Culinary Arts Reviews

Hear what past participants have to say about the programs

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My ALMA experience- ALMA viva

by: Binita Debnath - IndiaProgram: Italian Culinary Program
10

I came to ALMA-La scuola internazionale di cucina italiana in the spring of 2018 on a fresh and beautiful day. I am an engineer who loves to cook, found the courage to be a professional cook of Italian cuisine and took the flight to Italy. Having some idea of Italy and very clear dreams and ambitions I started my journey. To me cooking is an art. Everyone cooking the same dish with same ingredients but the dish didn't taste the same from everyones hands. I wondered why? As an engineer, I wanted to organise, to be efficient, to measure, to plan the time and increase my output not just in the mechanical but in the artistic way. I wanted to learn the professional cooking that tastes the best as 'made with love...' At ALMA I stared with the fundamentals, the history of Italian gastronomy, the Maestro Gualtiero Marchesi Philosophy, the local ingredients, the seasonal ingredients, the story behind each product and along side, the kitchen training with salads and dressings was the start of hands on kitchen trainig lesson. Every lesson, I learnt not just by reading or following the recipe but there are many little details that differentiates professional cook from a good professional cook. The simple salad can be visually appealing if the leaves are treated well- crisp fresh leaves not wet with water not wilting but ‘Just right!’ With practice and support from my trainer chefs, I learned the 'Just right'... the just right thickness of pasta for ravioli, the just right seasoning and cheese in risotto, the just right al dente of pasta, the just right acidity of mayonese, the just right cooked sea food, the just right sauce consistency, the just right cook of medium rare meat and so on.… and that definitely is not easy, it came to me with practice and practice and practice... After many learning and practice lessons and I was ready to move out of training kitchen and step into the world of professional restaurant kitchen. I went for the traineeship part of my course under the watchful eyes and well trained hands of Chef Paolo Lopriore, Ristorante IL PORTICO in Appiano Gentile in Lombardy. I started with my work and also my grammarless Italian talking… It was just an assembly of words without any tenses… And I survived as everyone helped and corrected me and now I talk fluently and even translate… yippie! I learnt and took responsibility and gradually my Maestro and me had an understanding… I knew what to do and what to handle… The connection of the restaurant and its kitchen and the brigade with the service people seemed like an orchestra and I knew my place and could help others and control sudden rush or unexpected slow. Time to move forward again… and I moved into the TWO MICHELIN STAR kitchen of Chef Valeria Piccini, Ristorante Da Caino on Montemerano of Tuscany. She is a SHEF!! An iron lady of a chef consistently holding her michelin stars over two decades, she has the brightest smile and the warmest hug. She honed me like chef sharpening their blade, made me observe and realise the tiny aspects that matter when you have stars. The happiness of holding that rank and the pressure of living up to that rank, nothing is a hurdle to ambition. She taught me precision, making sure that I have it ingrained in me and I do…, it runs in my blood. She knows that too and every time I meet her, I get that big warm hug. Now As I look back, I wonder… Am I the engineer with the love for cooking? Yes and No. I am the engineer and the chef and the possibility to be both in the vast canvas of gastronomy filled with possibility for every field. I am presisely what Iwant to be. The chef is my added character that is confident with cooking. I am what I am today is because not just me, but everyone around me made it possible. My deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks to everyone in ALMA-La scuola internazionale di cucina italiana who helped and worked from my enrollment, through my lessons, throughout the journey of my course to now keeping in touch with me… for this beautiful experience.

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Interviews

Read interviews from alumni or staff

Maurizio Serra

Interviewed in 2021

Staff

What inspired you to travel abroad?

I arrived at ALMA in 2007, in October to be precise. It marked a turning point for me, also professionally, and from that point on, thanks to ALMA and the policy of the time, I was given many opportunities to grow, get involved, and carry forward the concept of teaching and of the thinking chef. He can be not only a good chef but also a good teacher, in order to help our future generations even more.

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Fabio Amadei

Interviewed in 2021

Staff

What inspired you to travel abroad?

My favorite part of my job is what I call the unexpected. This is because, although a lesson can be planned, studied, and organized in detail, teaching always drives you inside a flow. It is quite like the sea waves that do not allow you to know exactly where they can arrive; at the same time, when you enter the class, there is a point of departure and an ideal point of arrival, but then the dynamic of the class leads you to explore unfamiliar shores, but always guided by the concept of sharing.

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Laura Torresin

Interviewed in 2021

Staff

What inspired you to travel abroad?

When I finished my second working experience in Australia, I returned to Italy. I came to Alma just to say hello and I was offered to stay and work as chef assistant. I took the opportunity as it seemed interesting to me; I worked several years as a chef assistant, starting in the central kitchen of the school, and then I had several experiences supporting our Guest Chefs and assisting the instructors in the courses for foreign students.

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Awards

Check out awards and recognitions ALMA – The School of Italian Culinary Arts has received