Head of Department's Message

Message from the Head of Department

The Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts is a four-year undergraduate program that addresses, with a holistic approach, the historical development of national and international culinary cultures, the dynamics of interaction between these cultures and the scientific foundations of food and beverage production processes. The program systematically offers, through theoretical and applied courses, a broad field of knowledge ranging from the physical and chemical properties of foods to the principles of nutrition, and from traditional and modern cooking techniques to kitchen and restaurant management.

In our department, application-oriented education begins from the first year; in addition to courses in which basic cookery and pastry techniques are taught, comprehensive content related to Turkish, Italian, French, Spanish, South American and Far Eastern cuisines is conveyed in detail through country-based applications. In addition to these courses, a curriculum enriched with modules that strengthen creativity and the aesthetic perspective, such as seafood applications, product development work, “black box” applications and modeling techniques, is offered. All applied courses are carried out in three separate fully equipped application kitchens within our university.

The main mission of the program is to train individuals who are masters of different culinary cultures, who can interpret production techniques from a scientific and artistic perspective, who have foreign language competence at a level that will enable them to work in national and international businesses, and who have adopted a contemporary management approach. In this direction, our department is in collaboration with the leading national and international hotel and food and beverage businesses of the sector, and supports our students' internship and post-graduation employment processes.

Thanks to the academic knowledge they have acquired and their entrepreneurial vision, our graduates can develop their own business models; at the same time, they obtain career opportunities as qualified chef candidates in businesses operating on a national and international scale. Candidates who aim to specialize in the field of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts will have the opportunity to take their professional competencies to the highest level, accompanied by experienced academic staff, in this comprehensive educational environment that integrates a strong theoretical infrastructure with practical skills.

I invite all candidates who want to receive a qualified education from experienced academics in fully equipped kitchen laboratories, with a rich curriculum consisting of theoretical and applied courses in order to pursue a career in the field of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts, to become students in the Istanbul Galata University Department of Gastronomy and Culinary Arts.

Asst. Prof. Yağmur ÖZER

Head of the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department