Advancing training
The Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy defines gastronomy as the art of preparing a good meal and enjoying it.
For the Basque Culinary Center, this definition falls short. In the heart of San Sebastián there is a place where gastronomy is explored.
Is transformed. Is experienced.
Basque Culinary Center is one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world in the field of gastronomy. A unique place. A professional setting with significant international influence that motivates those who view gastronomy as an unstoppable dynamic force with substantial cultural, economic, and social impact.
However, Basque Culinary Center is much more than an academic institution. It is a creative ecosystem where training, innovation, research and entrepreneurship come together. A cauldron where ideas and flavours are born that fire the gastronomic passion of new generations of professionals.
Basque Culinary Center is the engine of a change that is already happening.
From 2024, Carmencita and Basque Culinary Center have worked together to train future culinary professionals in the art and knowledge of spices.
A powerful collaboration that showcases the role spices have in cooking.
The collaboration between Carmencita and the Basque Culinary Center is not only a union between a leading brand of spices and a prestigious academic institution. It is a commitment to talent, innovation, and excellence in culinary training.
Aromas, colours, textures, flavours… The infinite variety of nuances that spices bring to cooking, especially in the HORECA sector, is undeniable. Because of this, Carmencita and the Basque Culinary Center focus their collaboration on promoting an innovative and creative professional cuisine that is also sustainable.
03 November 2025
Training the chefs of the future always begins by sparking their curiosity. In the classrooms of the Basque Culinary Center, the aroma of spices blends with the excitement and passion of those who have chosen to dedicate their lives to cooking.
20 September 2025
Carmencita participates in the start of the academic year with two key sessions. One, professional outings to the food industry. Two, sensory analysis using spices.
14 September 2024
Carmencita teaches two training sessions at the Basque Culinary Center for second-year students. These sessions are centred around the sensory analysis of products and focussed on training and innovation through the use of spices.
6 Nov 2025
Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Joxe Mari Aizega, General Director of the Basque Culinary Center, to our facilities in Novelda.
It was a very special visit, guided by Jesús Navarro Alberola, our CEO, who presented the new spaces of Carmencita—places where tradition and innovation meet every day to shape the future of flavour.
The day marked a new chapter in the ongoing collaboration between Carmencita and the Basque Culinary Center, a relationship built on shared values: a passion for gastronomy, training, and the relentless pursuit of quality.
8 July 2025
In the context of the 10th Conference of Businesses at the Basque Culinary Center, Carmencita presented HENKO: a laboratory of ideas and talent that explores how spices can transform the culinary experience of the future.
This initiative is the bridge between tradition and innovation. An enriching space where the future of gastronomy is built through textures, aromas, flavours, and sensations.
HENKO trains the chefs of tomorrow through the aromas, textures and sensations that spices awaken. Carmencita’s spices are, without doubt, the engine that gives life to a dish’s ingredients.
22 February 2024
Carmencita and BCC made a joint commitment: a strategic agreement that aims for excellence in culinary training.
This agreement includes training on the important role of spices in the history of gastronomy, as well as delving into sensory analyses and innovating in the use of spices in professional cooking.
This is a firm commitment to excellence, which places spices as the common thread between knowledge and gastronomic creativity.
29 November 2023
On 29 November 2023, Carmencita participated in the Hackathon Seasoned Project at the Basque Culinary Center. An interesting encounter where the flavours of the world and new ways of integrating spices into modern cuisine could be seen in action.
The R&D team at Carmencita acted as the jury, and it was a vibrant experience where creativity, technology, and gastronomy coalesced to redefine culinary trends.
24 July 2024
On 24 July, a prominent ‘Business Meeting’ was held at the Basque Culinary Centre headquarters, with Carmencita actively participating and consolidating its strategic collaboration with the academic institution.
These types of business and academic alliances show a clear trend: gastronomy is no longer just traditional cuisine, but an ecosystem of innovation, entrepreneurship, industry, and training. The collaboration between Carmencita and BCC reinforces that even classic ingredients such as spices can be at the centre of new training and technological developments.
The union between the Basque Culinary Center and Carmencita reflects a common commitment: to move forward together toward the promising future of gastronomy.
Both entities share a vision that transcends the academic or business, exploring roads untravelled, promoting innovative proposals and sowing the seeds of inspiration with each step.
This very special collaboration not only imagines tomorrow, but is building it with knowledge, sensitivity and a profound passion for cooking.
