Culinary Heritage of European Food Erasmus Project

Project Title

Culinary Heritage of European Food

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Migrants’ issues

Project Summary

The overall aim of our project “Culinary Heritage of European Food” (CHEF) is to raise awereness how important the EU is for our future lives securing peace and prosperity – especially nowadays in times of separatist and nationalist tendencies and the threat of right-wing parties promoting racist thoughts all over Europe. In our project we will address migration processes in Europe during the twentieth century up to the present, their influence on the different cultures and how integration of immigrants is often helped by the means of traditional food, eating habits and hospitality which they brought to their new home countries. Furthermore, we will examine the tourism industry and its influence on gastronomy in the participating European countries. Our goal is to fight ignorance and intolerance and foster curiosity and an intercultural dialogue and critical thinking by providing the students with historical knowledge and connecting it to their future in Europe. We seek to achieve this goal by using an aspect from our students’ reality and interest, namely food and cooking, as a means to link it with historical facts on politics and migration in Europe.
Our project “Culinary Heritage of European Food” also aims to create and intensify partnerships between our vocational college ‘Berufskolleg Königstraße’ in Gelsenkirchen and the three vocational colleges in Newcastle, Felgueiras and Olsztyn. It mainly addresses gastronomy students and trainees who want to become chefs or chef assistants.
Many of the students have got an own history of migrating from one country to another, their families having moved or migrated from at least one country to another, and they have also encountered many varieties of food. Traditional recipes from the countries they or their ancestors were born in, food they have come across in their “new” home country, new trends in cooking, new styles of cuisine, all mixed in an outcome of opulent olfactory, sensory tasty experiences should be the basis for working in this project.
Finding out something about how migration and tourism have influenced the traditional foods or traditional nutrition in the four countries involved (plus in other countries, depending on where the participating students feel at home or were born or were raised) is an essential part of the project.
Similarities and common roots of certain culinary developments can be discovered; recipes which experienced a slight change in being prepared at another place (respectively in another country) can lead to cooking together and presenting the dishes.
As many of the participating students come from disadvantaged backgrounds (with a high unemployment rate, poverty and little chances for many students to get access to [higher] education), many of them have never been to other European countries before. Working as a chef or in gastronomy in general requires learning about different countries, their cuisines, cultural diversity, habits and traditions in order to improve skills and competences and to get a better qualification and better jobs in the future.
Getting to know more about the culinary traditions brought to the participating countries by immigrants or tourists helps students to acquire a better understanding of the common basis of culinary development and prepares them for better chances in the competition of finding well-paid international jobs in the gastronomy sector.
The creativity of the participating students will be enhanced by the project, so that they might also invent new delicious foods and arrange them in new, innovative dishes.
These abilities, together with the improved knowledge of English will provide the participants with better job chances.
It is an important aim of this project to increase students’ competence in foreign languages and especially in English as a lingua franca.
Taking part in thís project will add enormously to students’ motivation for language learning and practical use of language skills and thus to their professional profiles.
In the course of the two years, they will not only participate in mobilities to other countries, but also get to know other young Europeans sharing their interests in preparing food and learning about working in multicultural teams.
All participants will gather experience concerning different traditions, cultures and habits having to do with eating and this insight will lead to a better understanding of multicultural societies and the necessity of working together.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 121510 Eur

Project Coordinator

Berufskolleg Königstrasse der Stadt Gelsenkirchen & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Zespol Szkol Gastronomiczno – Spozywczych
• The Corporation of NCG
• Escola Secundária com 3º ciclo do Ensino Básico de Felgueiras
• Zespol Szkol im. Tadeusza Kosciuszki w Zarkach