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Raul Garcia Hemonnet
The rector of the Rey Juan Carlos University, Javier Ramos, and the Mayor of Aranjuez, María José Martínez de La Fuente, presented this Monday the Madrid Gastronomic International Center (MAGIC), an educational initiative on gastronomy that aims to be a reference in the university system Spanish.
MAGIC is the first public faculty of gastronomy in Spain, "it is an institution that encompasses all the branches of this discipline: cuisine, dish design, management, dining room, oenology or gastronomic communication", says Blanca Mayandía, executive director of the new school , cook and gastronomic consultant.
Starting in the spring of 2022, MAGIC will begin offering university extension courses aimed at students in the intermediate and higher degrees of hospitality, and URJC graduates who want to delve into these areas. In addition, there is a degree proposal that is already planned and structured, but that will begin to function later, as well as master's and doctoral programs.
With regard to facilities, it is planned that, in addition to the classrooms, located in the Old House of the Governor of Aranjuez, MAGIC will have laboratories, "among which will be the first confectionery laboratory in Spain," says Blanca Mayandía , kitchens, workshops, cellar and a restaurant, in which all the results of the training and research processes that are going to take place in this new center will be shown.
The faculty will be made up of doctoral professors from the URJC and also by illustrious chefs and personalities from the sector, such as Pepe Rodríguez, chef with 1 Michelin star and jury of the benchmark cooking competition program 'MasterChef', Fernando del Cerro (2 soles Repsol) and maximum referent of the cuisine of Aranjuez and the expert in wine and hospitality entrepreneur, Paco Patón.
MAGIC, in short, is a project that positions the URJC at the forefront of gastronomic education and "revitalizes Aranjuez and its campus, establishing itself as a clear commitment to the world of the arts, in a broad sense," says Blanca Mayandía.
A training and research center that wants to become a national and international reference and vindicate the rich gastronomy of Madrid, with many secrets yet to be discovered.