If you follow BasqueStage via Twitter, Facebook, or our blog, you know that our current stages, Marco and Cameron, are working hard and playing hard in the kitchen of Martín Berasategui.

You may also know they have a privileged position, learning as stages in a three-star restaurant but with all their expenses paid, as special Sammic scholars.

But do you know that it’s almost time to begin the III Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage application process? And that you, or an aspiring chef you know, has the chance to do the same?

The BasqueStage Scholarship is a collaboration between Sammic, a European company that manufactures equipment for professional kitchens, and Martin Berasategui, one of the most renowned chefs in the world with over a dozen Michelin stars to his name.

It’s a program that carries on the tradition of nurturing young chefs, which is one of the peculiar characteristics of the culinary community of Basque Country, and one of the principal reasons it is home to more Michelin stars per person than anywhere else in the world. The stages work at Berasategui’s three-star restaurant in Lasarte, Spain, just outside of San Sebastián in the Basque Region of Spain. The jury that chooses the two winners is packed with culinary luminaries, such as Daniel Bouloud, Thomas Keller, and Pedro Subijana. BasqueStage winners receive a 6-month, all-expense-paid stage and  have an instant platform to share their experiences with other chefs and lovers of food, through blog, video and social media.

Tracy Chang and Athena Thickstun were the winners of the first round of BasqueStage, which took place from January 2011 to June 2011.  Their rich experience here, immersed in the kitchen life at Martín Berasategui as well as the enchanting community of Basque Country, has been chronicled for you to enjoy. You can read about their past adventures, and what they’ve gotten up to since then, on their blogs: tracyfearless.com and athenathickstun.com).  Or if you’re wondering what advice they would leave to their successors, on the BasqueStage blog they left two letters of advice  for all future stages.

Our II Sammic Scholars, the promising young cooks Marco Bahena and Cameron Rolka, are still in their honeymoon period at the restaurant.  Follow them by the minute on the adventure of a lifetime!

• Marco’s Blog
• Marco on Twitter
• Cameron’s Blog
• Cameron on Twitter

Do you want to be the next Sammic Scholar for BasqueStage? As we’ve mentioned, for the third round of BasqueStage, we are opening the scholarship up to all nationalities!  While the previous grants were limited to the USA, the amount of interest from other countries has prompted us to open the playing field to young cooks everywhere.  We are in the process of contacting schools, restaurants, media and others about BasqueStage. If you need more information, all you have to do is contact us at info@basquestage.com.

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