International Culinary Center to Offer Olive Oil Sommelier Certification

The new program's executive director, Curtis Cord and Dorothy Hamilton, the founder of the International Culinary Center, announced the joint project at the NYIOOC press conference today.
The International Culinary Center in Soho, New York
By Olive Oil Times Staff
Apr. 14, 2016 18:30 UTC

The Olive Oil Times Education Lab, in con­junc­tion with the International Culinary Center, announced today the launch of a series of cer­ti­fi­ca­tion courses for aspir­ing olive oil som­me­liers.

The announce­ment was made by Olive Oil Times pub­lisher, Curtis Cord and Dorothy Hamilton, the founder of the International Culinary Center at a press con­fer­ence in New York.

The Olive Oil Sommelier Certification Program will bring the world’s fore­most olive oil experts and edu­ca­tors to New York and the International Culinary Theater in a com­pre­hen­sive series of courses span­ning pro­duc­tion, qual­ity man­age­ment and advanced sen­sory assess­ment,” said Cord, who will serve as its exec­u­tive direc­tor.

The first three-day course, level one of a three-course series, will begin this fall at the International Culinary Center in Soho (New York). Advanced level courses will con­tinue quar­terly.

NYIOOC panel leader Carola Dummer Medina

There has never been a greater need to fos­ter a deeper under­stand­ing of this impor­tant food among tomorrow’s culi­nary lead­ers, and there is no bet­ter place to reach them than the International Culinary Center,” Cord said.

Extra vir­gin olive oil is the unre­fined juice from olives which has been part of the cul­tural her­itage around the world for thou­sands of years. Like wine, olive oil reflects its ter­roir and exhibits com­plex taste char­ac­ter­is­tics depend­ing on the olive vari­eties used and count­less other vari­ables in cul­ti­va­tion and pro­cess­ing.

Extra vir­gin olive oil is cov­eted for proven health ben­e­fits and its abil­ity to enhance the tastes of foods. Chefs around the world are learn­ing to har­ness the end­less pos­si­bil­i­ties in their kitchens and there is a grow­ing demand for high-qual­ity olive oils and those who can iden­tify them.

The International Culinary Center has always been at the fore­front of culi­nary inno­va­tion, and we’re proud to launch the first Olive Oil Sommelier Program,” said Hamilton. We are excited to team up with the Olive Oil Times Education Lab to intro­duce a never-before-seen, inno­v­a­tive pro­gram to our cur­rent and future stu­dents.”

The unveil­ing of the new som­me­lier pro­gram coin­cided with the release of the results of the New York International Olive Oil Competition, the world’s largest and most pres­ti­gious olive oil qual­ity con­test. More than 800 entries from 25 coun­tries com­peted at the four-day event. Spain took home the most awards, fol­lowed by Italy and Greece.

For more infor­ma­tion on the Olive Oil Sommelier Certification Program, visit the International Culinary Center web­site, or oliveoilschool.org.

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