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Ana Ishkhanova, a 28-year-old from Tbilisi, had always been interested in culinary arts, but ended up studying mathematics in college. After her first year, she realized that she should pursue something that made her happy, which was cooking. So she left college and enrolled at the Georgian Culinary Institute.
Newly trained chef Ana Ishkhaova is just one of 35 individuals who have benefited from a USAID-supported skills training program designed to meet the needs of Georgia’s growing gastronomy industry.
Soon after, she learned about a joint training program offered by Caucasus University (CU) and the Basque Culinary Center, supported by USAID’s Industry-Led Skills Development Program and implemented by IESC. She jumped at the opportunity and embarked on a new career path. “I progressed very quickly in my career, met very interesting people, became more confident, and most importantly, became even more excited about becoming a chef and completely changing my lifestyle,” Anna said.
To meet the needs of the gastronomy industry, IESC partnered in 2022 with Caucasus University, one of Georgia’s leading educational institutions, offering 45 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs across 10 colleges. Caucasus University, in partnership with the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastian, Spain and the Georgian Gastronomy Tourism Business Association, created an innovative skills development certificate training program, which became the first gastronomy vocational training program in Georgia designed in collaboration with an international partner. The CU training program aims to enhance students’ skills in avant-garde cooking techniques, creativity, plating and gastronomic trends. A total of 35 students participated in the training sessions taught by four trainers who had been trained in the first round of training organized by the Basque Culinary Center.
“Once all your friends know about your culinary talent, you become the most popular person in your circle. Everyone wants to come to eat. You’re happy – you get to try new flavors and experiment often. But while cooking for friends is fulfilling, your ambitions go beyond that. You want to become a chef and find your place in the restaurant world,” says Anna, who now works as a chef at Avocado.ge, a restaurant in Tbilisi.
Following the success of the IESC gastronomy training program, Caucasus University plans to expand its involvement in skills development and establish a gastronomy academy in Gurjani (Kakheti region, Georgia) as a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, Caucasus University and the Basque Culinary Center to further support young Georgians in upgrading their skills while meeting the workforce needs of Georgia’s growing gastronomy industry.
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