November 27 – 28, 2023
Barcelona, On-Site & Online
Simultaneous translation English – Spanish
ABOUT
Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean is an industry leadership conference organized by the Torribera Mediterranean Center (TMC)
Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean aims to help the restaurant, foodservice industry and affiliated sectors better understand and transfer the healthful, sustainable, and cultural principles of the Mediterranean Diet into menus and products suited to the demands of 21st century consumers.
The Mediterranean Diet is unquestionably one of the world’s healthiest, not to mention delicious, ways to eat. Its benefits to our physical and mental health are settled science, as leading researchers from all over the globe, from Harvard to the University of Barcelona, have been proving for decades.
TORRIBERA MEDITERRANEAN CENTER
The Torribera Mediterranean Center is a joint project of the University of Barcelona and The Culinary Institute of America, located at the UB’s Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus in Santa Coloma de Gramenet.
It is the first center in the world to take the Mediterranean Diet as starting point to connect leading-edge food and nutrition research with culinary, agricultural, and business innovation.
TMC is open to Mediterranean, European, and other international partners.
OVERVIEW
What if a centuries-old set of food cultures and dietary patterns that evolved out of the olive growing regions of the greater Mediterranean basin, the birthplace of Western civilization, were not simply delicious and engaging for contemporary appetites but held critical, even existential lessons for nourishing personal and planetary health for a secure, global tomorrow?
Inspired by this question, the Torribera Mediterranean Center announces its 4th Annual Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean Conference to be held November 27, 2023 at the University of Barcelona’s main Historic Building in Barcelona.
The conference will once again take up a set of critical issues with global relevance–issues around health and nutrition, sustainability including the food-climate connection and regenerative agriculture, cultural diversity and identity, culinary insight and food innovation linked to behavioral change, emerging food business models, and more.
PROGRAM
This year’s TTM Conference will revolve around five themes reflecting the interdisciplinary focus of our TMC work: As research on the optimal, traditional Mediterranean diet continues, we’ll hear an overview of results of the latest studies as well as what’s on the research agenda of leading nutrition scientists in areas including lifestyle, wellness, Mediterranean diet, cardiovascular and brain health, cancer, microbiota, prevention of inflammation and other chronic diseases, and emerging areas of translational research.
We’ll discover how innovators are crafting a larger role for irresistible vegetables and other plant-sourced dishes on their menus.
While cooking with olive oil is second nature to chefs and cooks in the Mediterranean, we’ll consider the art and science of applying low and high heat to olive oil and extra- virgin olive oil—looking at results from a nutritional, sensory and gastronomic point of view.
We’ll explore what the plant-forward Mediterranean diet means today in food cultures and restaurant menus of the traditional olive growing regions of North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.
Finally, we look at the challenge of educating the public about the optimal, traditional Mediterranean diet—specifically in mass media, caterings, restaurants, healthcare and school settings—and what can be done to deepen general understanding of this healthy, climate-smart dietary pattern beyond sound bites and social media posts.
NOVEMBER 27, 2023
(All schedule times are in Central European Time (CET)
08:30. Registration and Coffee.
Check-in at University of Barcelona Historic Building.
09:00. Welcome and Opening Remarks.
09:20. Session 1: The Mediterranean Diet—Latest Findings and Emerging Research to Support Personal and Planetary Health.
10:30. Session 2: Renewing Food Culture—Securing the Future of the Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage Recognized by UNESCO.
11:30. Break.
12:00. Session 3: Of Food, Health and Culture: A Sustainable Heritage of the Mediterranean Diet in North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean?
13:30. Session 4: Pulses of Change: “Beans Is How” We Can Fix the Future.
14:00. Lunch
15:00. Session 5: Powering a Global Trend around Irresistible Vegetables.
15:40. Session 6: Fermenting Change: Chefs, Plant-Forward Restaurants and Sustainability.
16:20. Session 7: Scaling Change for a Sustainable Future: In our Communities and our Businesses.
17:00. Break.
17:30. Session 8: Mastering the Olive Oil Kitchen: The Chemistry of Heat, A World of Application and Flavor.
18:15. Session 9: From Culinary Interactions to Nutritional Synergies: Next-Generation Research on the Mediterranean Kitchen.
19:05. Closing Remarks.
19:15. Conference Adjournment/Wine Reception.
NOVEMBER 28, 2023
(All schedule times are in Central European Time (CET)
9:30. Registration and Coffee.
Check-in at Barcelona Culinary Hub
10:00. Welcome and Workshop Overview.
10:10. Workshop 1: Frontiers of the Olive Oil Kitchen—The Art and Chemistry of Heat and Flavor.
BCH Hot Kitchen.
11:00. Workshop 2: North Africa—The Vegetable Kitchen Revealed.
BCH Cold Kitchen.
11:50. Break
12:10. Workshop 3: Flavor Dynamics of Plant Protein Deliciousness—Of Beans, Nuts and the Mediterranean Kitchen.
BCH Classroom.
13:00. Workshop 4: Eastern Mediterranean—Strategies with Plant-Rich Menus, Aromatics and the Spice Kitchen.
BCH Hot Kitchen.
13:55. Closing Remarks.
14:00. Workshop Concludes.
Note: All four workshops include tastings.
PRESENTERS
Adelaida Ferrer
Co-Executive Director (for the University of Barcelona), Torribera Mediterranean Center; Barcelona, Spain.
Agustí Romero
Coordinator of the Olive Growing and Forestry Team and Fruit Growing, Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology (IRTA); Tarragona, Spain.
Ali Honour
Executive Chef, Food Consultant; Cork, Ireland.
Amèlia Sarroca
Food Waste and Nutrition Technician, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, CREDA Center for Agro-food Economics and Development; Barcelona, Spain.
Anne E. McBride
Vice President of Programs, James Beard Foundation; North Plainfield, USA.
Axel Bidon-Chanal-Badia
Serra-Húnter Fellow department of Nutrition, Food Science and
Gastronomy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona; Barcelona, Spain.
Conor Spacey
Chef, Disruptor & Author, Co-founder FoodSpace, Dublin, Ireland.
François Chartier
President, Chartier World Lab; Barcelona, Spain.
Greg Drescher
Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, The Culinary Institute of America; Napa, USA.
Hafida Ben Rejeb Latta
Cookbook Author (The Tunisia Cookbook: Healthy Red Cuisine from Carthage to Kairouan); Valencia, Spain.
Ixta Belfrage
Cookbook Author (Mezcla and Ottolenghi Flavour) and Recipe Developer, IXTA LTD; London, UK.
Joan Guàrdia
Rector, University of Barcelona; Barcelona, Spain.
Joe Profaci
Executive Director, North American Olive Oil Association; New York, USA.
José Miguel Herrero Velasco
Acting General Director of Food Industry, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food; Madrid, Spain.
María Martínez-Iglesia
Academic Director, Barcelona Culinary Hub; Barcelona, Spain.
María Pérez Bosch
Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, INSA-UB, University of Barcelona; Barcelona, Spain.
Michael Sperling
Vice President of Academic Affairs, The Culinary Institute of America; Hyde Park, USA.
Michiel Bakker
Vice President, Global Workplace Programs, Google; Los Gatos, USA.
Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch y Mateu Casañas
Chefs and Owners, Disfrutar Restaurant, Barcelona, Spain.
Ramón Estruch
Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital Clinic; Professor of Medicine, University of Barcelona; Chair Scientific Advisory Council, Torribera Mediterranean Center; Barcelona, Spain.
Rosa Vañó
Co-Owner and Commercial Director, Castillo de Canena; Madrid, Spain.
Santi Mas de Xaxàs Faus
Founder, Gastronomic+34, Co-Executive Director (for The Culinary Institute of America), Torribera Mediterranean Center; Barcelona, Spain.
Sara Roversi
President, Future Food Institute; Bologna, Italy.
Tara Stevens
Journalist & Cooking School Owner, The Courtyard Kitchen; Fez, Morocco & Barcelona, Spain.
Xenophon Kappas
General Manager, Captain Vassilis & Carmen Constantakopoulos Foundation;
Athens, Greece.
DIGITAL MAGAZINE & VIDEOS
Download The 2022-23 Digital Magazine.
Watch the 2022 conference recording.
2023 CONFERENCE SPONSORS
PREMIUM GOLD
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COLLABORATORS
