Diploma in Plant-Based Culinary Arts

This Diploma focuses on crafting excellent dishes solely from plants, providing a creative repertoire of product knowledge, skills and recipes. Within the programme students will explore a wide range of vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, grains and pulses, gaining expert knowledge on ingredient varieties and innovative culinary uses. The programme has been designed to provide specialised culinary education for the growing demand for vegan, vegetarian and plant-based restaurants and products.

The programme is formed of six modules:

Plant-Based Cuisine and Diet
This unit introduces plant-based cooking and will explain the principals of plant-based dietary requirements, culinary preparations, and cooking methods, providing detailed product knowledge and professional kitchen organisation skills. Students will also gain a food safety qualification which is required for working in a professional kitchen.

Professional Culinary Skills and Product Knowledge
The unit builds a solid foundation of fundamental culinary skills beginning with knife skills and progressing to stocks, sauces, soups, preservation and unique skills and techniques. Product knowledge is an essential component of this programme including oils, vinegar, herbs, spices which will become essential to creating recipes as the plant-based vegetarian programme develops.

Vegetable and Plant Foods
This unit will focus on vegetable ingredients, by introducing a range of vegetables such as flowers, bulbs, fungi and stems, tubers and sea vegetables. Students will have the opportunity to learn a variety of recipes, plating skills and culinary techniques.

Grains, Pulses, Nuts & Seeds
Essential to plant-based cuisine the innovative recipes will include a range of breads, cooking with grains and explore the culinary world of beans, peas and lentils. Students will learn to identify these products and understand a range of cooking methods for their use.

Specialised Plant-Based Cuisines
This unit will build on the foundation from the previous units with focus on plant-based foods and beverages, diets and cultures around the globe.  Current trends and innovations in the vegetarian food industry will be assessed in a creative environment. The unit includes specialised demonstrations and guest speakers.

Desserts: Chocolate, Fruit & Nuts
The final unit will focus on the use of raw chocolate, fruit, berries and nuts to create delicious deserts including dairy free ice-creams, sorbets custards, vegan pastry and confectionary. Students will also review how to modify recipes.

Students also study the Diploma in Gastronomy, Nutrition & Food Trends prior to, or having completed this course.