As India rolled into the 21st century, the younger generation broke the chains of conventional mainstream degrees and career paths, and swapped the age-old thought process with a more inspired one. Creative courses are in abundance now. Our schools and colleges boast a number of varied courses to choose from, widening the scope of career choices in India. Food and hospitality isn't new to the educational sector, but it goes well beyond just culinary school and management. These days, institutions are getting more creative with their use of sustenance — from physics to hospitality, food is making its way into the academic classroom.
Scroll downn for some of the most unique courses that have integrated food and drink into their syllabus, and remember, it’s never too late to do one!
Alcohol technology
Vasantdada Sugar Institute (VSI) offers courses in in Wine, Brewing and Alcohol Technology. There, students learn basic skills, such as recipe development and proper sanitation. It is a two-year course designed to provide basic knowledge of wine, brewing and alcohol technology. First three semesters of the M.Sc. (WBAT) course are common for all the students. In the fourth semester, the students are required to select a specialization depending on their choice either in brewing, wine making, alcohol manufacture and bottling, or 2nd/3rd generation ethanol. Three months in-plant training or research project in the area of specialization is also mandatory.
Food Technology
If you’re passionate about food, and live to eat instead of eat to live, food technology is right up your alley. This course was developed to cater to the need for skilled hands in the nascent industry of food processing. Here, you would analyse the chemical, physical and microbiological makeup of food when it is processed, preserved, packaged and stored, so that you can work towards improvising methods to improve quality. During post-graduation, the career scope would explore food processing industries, research laboratories, hotels, soft drink factories, quality control, rice mills, manufacturing industries, and even distilleries. You can pursue these courses at SRM University’s Department of Food Process Engineering, Ghaziabad, UP, and Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore.
Wine and Tea Tasting
Though food tasting has been an integral part of the hotel management and hospitality industry, the demand for qualified wine and tea sommeliers has increased in the last few years. Sommeliers not only taste the product, but also partake in the entire process of its manufacture. The individual needs to have thorough knowledge of cultivation, branding and product marketing. Since wine and tea tourism is a big crowd-puller in the country, this is a lucrative profession. Some of the biggest educational institutes, such as the Asian School of Tea, offer courses in tea management and tasting. Wineries and wine academy, such as the Indian Wine Academy in Delhi, offer both courses and internship programmes.
Fishery
The Tamil Nadu Fisheries University (TNFU) was set up by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Industry, owing to the importance of the fisheries sector in the Indian economy. It focuses on aquaculture-based studies, such as adopting scientific methods to harness maximum benefit with minimum input without harming the environment or exhausting natural resources. Their courses also teach students the process involved in scientific rearing of tilapia, catfish, shrimps, loaches and other ornamental fish. And to top it off, they even work towards diagnosing fish diseases and testing the quality of fishery products, thereby working towards increasing productivity and sustainability of livelihood.
Food Flavourist or Flavour Chemist
The Indian Institute of Hospitality & Management (IIHM) in Mumbai, and the SRM University, offers a course that helps people understand fragrances and flavours added to food products, in order to enhance their taste and smell. The job basically requires mixing various ingredients to create unique flavours, which essentially means that you need to gain a thorough understanding of aroma chemicals, essential oils, plant extracts and other similar aromatic ingredients. If you are a chemistry buff, but not a huge foodie, fear not, because there are hordes of goods that require alluring fragrances like perfumes, cosmetics and even toothpaste.