“Really, the most exciting part is seeing how many experts worldwide in all parts of the culinary and food industries are involved and discussing the innovation and what will make this a culinary school that goes beyond just cooking.”

Vivian Liberman was also a part of our Culinary Curriculum summit back in September of 2020 and contributed greatly to both our global culinary and food media sessions. It was great to catch back up with her.

During your experience in the culinary education system, what were the main changes you made in your teaching methods?

During my years in culinary education, I made sure all the learning, even with the academic courses, was tactile. It involved practical instructions, the senses, and the “why” behind all the theories. I created interactive maps for food history and wine courses, brewed tea to teach about tannins in wine, spoke about why we used ingredients in the baking courses, and many more examples. While teaching one baking class, I was talking about proofing and the timing of it, and to better illustrate it, I under-proofed and over-proofed bread and baked one that was under, one that was correct, and one that was over. I wanted to show them the difference between structure and crumb and how time is so impactful to yeast when it is under all the other correct temperature and humidity conditions. Pure theoretical, academic instruction gets lost in people who are “crafts people”. I even presented a paper at a conference about making nutrition education more practical to study the changes in the molecular structure of foods through the denaturing of proteins when applying heat or processing them.

As a participant of GCI’s curriculum summit, was there a moment or a statement that stayed with you?

There were honestly many moments that were great. I had the opportunity to participate in a panel with Dana Cowin and Mitchell Davis, whom I have admired for a very long time. The conversations on the partnership between the university and GCI were exciting because of the ability to innovate and have experts nearby. Really, the most exciting part is seeing how many experts worldwide in all parts of the culinary and food industries are involved and discussing the innovation and what will make this a culinary school that goes beyond just cooking. My favorite thing of all was talking about all the cultures within the area that make up the food culture of the Galilee and the idea of making a food market with all these influences. So many things I love; the more I think about it, the more excited I get.

If you could add one new field/subject to a culinary school curriculum, what would it be?

Does it have to be just one? I think studying the impact of food on culture and how it shapes culture (we can call it the sociology of food) is very impactful. In many places, it is what shapes the economy, the family circle, everyone has to eat, but how it shapes communities, especially in a country as culturally diverse as Israel, is so important. Also, social media marketing. Social media has become such an impactful piece of the success of businesses and personalities. Being more well-armed with those skills would be wonderful.

I have other ideas, but since I gave you two instead of one, I will save the others for another time.

When you hear the words: Israel, Galilee, Food, Culture, and Innovation, what is the first thing that comes into your mind?

So many things come to mind with so many of them- Israel - food and also, for me, identity. For me, personally, my mom was born there, my brother lived there, and it has lots of my personal history. Also, culture and beautiful landscapes.

Galilee - I think olives usually.

Food - when I think of Israel, I think of watermelon and how delicious it is there, the amazing salads, yogurt, hummus, falafel, olive oil, halva...so much. I’m already hungry, but when I visit, I must always have watermelon. The best I’ve ever had is there, and I usually bring back za’atar from the market and a piece of halva.

Culture - culture is food, music, crafts. For me, the most integral part of Israeli culture and one of my favorites are the markets. It is not only about the products but also about socialization, sharing, the best thing.

Innovation - Israel is the epitome of innovation. It is one of the most innovative countries with startups, medical advances, security, everything. I can’t wait to see the innovation in brewing beer, wineries, and other ideas coming into GCI within food.

What's a fun culinary fact about you?

My love of cooking started when I was a child, growing up in Colombia, and I loved going to the food market to select produce and then go home and shuck peas and take the seeds out of soursop to make juice for my father. Those are probably some of the most annoying tasks to many, but everything food-related was always fun to me. I also used to make different breakfasts and snacks with my twin sister for us to eat. I’ve always loved food. My goal in life is to eat my way around the world.