05 MAY 2023

Mycorena and Basque Culinary Center Collaborate to Push the Boundaries of Modern Cuisine

The Swedish FoodTech company and the Spanish culinary institution are collaborating on a project at the intersection of technology and gastronomy. With innovation at the centre, the project aims to make innovative culinary creations using Promyc as an ingredient. Ultimately the goal is to accelerate alternative protein in modern cuisine.

Mycorena, the company behind innovative ingredients such as Promyc® and Mycolein™, is collaborating with Basque Culinary Center, a hub for culinary innovation where creativity and tradition intersect to produce some of the most exciting and inventive cuisines in the world. The challenges of today need innovative solutions, and the goal of the collaboration is to bridge the gap between new technology and gastronomy.

Basque Culinary Center is a leading culinary institution in San Sebastián, Spain, with a board comprised of some of the world’s most influential chefs. It is renowned for its innovative approach to Basque cuisine, combining traditional ingredients and techniques with cutting-edge technology and research, making it a perfect match for Mycorena.

The innovation centre is regularly contacted by companies for projects relating to product and concept development, for which the evaluation of Promyc as an innovative ingredient was first initiated. Mycorena’s fermentation and product development expertise alongside BCC's gastronomic innovation creates an obvious synergy.

In May 2022, BCC presented the first Promyc-application at an expo in Bilbao. Following the success of the first developed concept, Mycorena and BCC deepened their collaboration with innovative projects to accelerate their joint goals to promote gastronomy and nutrition.

Currently, the BCC Master’s students in Gastronomic Sciences are undertaking the challenge to develop five products using Promyc as an ingredient. The students are divided into five teams, creating one innovative product each in their respective product category: ready-to-eat (warm), ready-to-eat (cold), hybrid (meat/Promyc), hybrid (plant-based/Promyc), and sausage.

Representatives of the Mycorena product development team visited BCC for a guest lecture and masterclass on Promyc to initiate the challenge. During the semester, the fungi experts at Mycorena are available to educate and support the students on utilising the mycelium ingredient to maximise the outcome in presenting appealing and innovative products.

At the Basque Culinary Center, students have access to state-of-the-art facilities and a team of expert chefs and culinary researchers who constantly push the boundaries of what is possible in gastronomy. Through a combination of hands-on training, research, and experimentation, students learn to create innovative and exciting dishes that are both delicious and visually stunning. Moreover, the projects must have a specific goal based on thorough market research and be viable as a profitable product based on ingredient costs and scalability.

Joan Lluch Casarramona, a Food Specialist at Mycorena and former student of BCC, says:

‘Our ongoing collaboration is an excellent platform to introduce new ingredients and perspectives to the culinary world and evaluate their applicability in the future of gastronomy. It’s important to challenge the traditional, and new technology can help push the boundaries of innovative gastronomy.’

The Mycorena challenge concludes in June, when the student teams will present their innovation in their respective product categories. After that, the projects will be evaluated, and the team offering the most innovative product will be announced as the winner. Mycorena and Basque Culinary Center are working continuously to expand their collaboration.

cookies cookies1
cookies

We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.