The Mediterranean Culinary Academy will soon launch its latest round of courses, which will share with home cooks the essence of Mediterranean and Arabic food, and how it can be prepared.
In the Cuisines of Greece and Turkey course, students will discover authentic home-cooking techniques, styles and rituals from Greece and Turkey, while mastering the art of making mezze and crispy phyllo pastry from scratch, while gaining insights into the wide array of grains, olive oils, herbs and spices that are used in the cuisine of both unique eastern-Mediterranean regions.
Meanwhile, the Cuisines of the Maghreb and Arab Levant course takes students on a culinary journey through the eastern coasts of the Arab Levant, across the River Nile and along the Maghrebi seaboard. Painting a colourful picture of how these cultures cook and eat, home cooks will be guided through the process of preparing mezze, baking a traditional bastila and creating a tajine with authentically-prepared couscous, all the while understanding the importance of spices and seasoning.
With each course taking place over four sessions for a total of 16 hours and covering a different region on each day, home cooks, who need only to have a basic knowledge of the kitchen, can develop a better understanding of the cuisine and wines of that region.
The relaunched courses follow the success of an earlier round held at the start of the year and maintain the Academy's core principles of sustainability, working closely with local farmers and using only locally-produced seasonal ingredients.
"We are excited to relaunch our courses and show people what authentic Mediterranean food is and how they can prepare it," says MCA chief Culinary officer Stephen La Rosa. "For us, this gives us the opportunity to refine the content which we teach, perfect our selection of wines to pair with what we cook and adapt our recipes for a completely different season of incredible, local produce."
Home-cooks attending the courses can also take advantage of the top-quality culinary guidance that is provided by the Academy's highly experienced and award-winning chefs. La Rosa, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, has worked in top Michelin-star dining establishments Per Se in New York, Quince in San Francisco and Hélène Darroze at The Connaught in London.
Culinary scientist Michael Camilleri has an equally impressive CV, cooking at L'Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and assisting in the research for a culinary book series Modernist Bread, before being hired by Heston Blumenthal as a Development chef at the Fat Duck Experimental Kitchen.
Also in the MCA team is Alison Azzopardi, who has worked at the Sofitel West Sussex, the acclaimed Hotel du Vin in Cambridge and now runs Trabuxu Bistro in Valletta. Alison even reached the semi-finals of the UK series, Masterchef: The Professionals, during which she was selected by chef Michael Roux Jr to work at the two-Michelin star La Gavroche.
Completing MCA's expert line-up is Keith Abela, who brings a unique knowledge of seasonal ingredients from his extensive farming background, has worked under Albert & Michael Roux at The Grand Jersey Hotel and regularly gives lectures, talks and live-cooking demos on Maltese TV and radio.
The Cuisines of Greece and Turkey course will be held between 9 and 30 June, while the Cuisines of the Maghreb and Arab Levant course will take place between 6 and 27 June. Each course is priced at €299, which includes the use of all equipment, wine and food to be used, and will take place at the Mediterranean Culinary Academy at No. 4, Sappers Street, Valletta, in the purposely-designed professional kitchen classroom.
New courses and one-off workshops are frequently added to constantly update the Mediterranean Culinary Academy website www.mcamalta.com