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Category : BasqueStage, Registration, Rules, Sammic Scholarship, Selection Process
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!
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.
Sign up for our newsletter for the latest in BasqueStage news, in the kitchens at Martin Berasategui, and in Basque Country.
To keep up with BasqueStage, you can follow us on Twitter or Facebook, in addition to keeping up with the official blog.
As stated on the 1st Sammic Scholarship rules, selected candidates are expected to comply with working program of the Martín Berasategui Restaurant, in Lasarte while actively playing a role in Basque Stage’s communication plan.
What does this entail?
(1) Martin Berasategui Restaurant in Lasarte is the official testing kitchen for Sammic’s equipment. The two winners might be asked to perform some testings to Sammic’s equipment and to report to the company when necessary.
(2) Each winner will be also expected to communicate through social networks (Facebook and Twitter) and a blog created for specifically for this purpose about their learning experience at this restaurant, living in the Basque Country and their relationship with Sammic’s equipment.
(3) Finally, the two selected applicants will be asked to produce 2 or more videos per month. Each month Sammic will set out the goals and the Scholars will have the equipment and support needed to produce such videos.
Sammic will provide with the necessary support and equipment to carry out all these tasks.
We understand that these tasks make the content of the Scholarship rich and unique, and both the project and the Scholars can benefit from it. BasqueStage will benefit from having two ambassadors becoming as a reference for future editions while communicating their experience to the rest of the world. And the Scholars will have the opportunity to gain experience in one of the most prestigious kitchens in Europe while showing their worldwide followers (and potential employers) their skills, knowledge and improvements.
I Sammic Scholarship within BasqueStage project is aimed at young chefs and recent graduates living in the United States of America. Despite this, and given the attractiveness of what we offer, we are also receiving applications from other countries.
Unfortunately, we have no choice but to reject these candidates as the first point of the contest rules says clearly who can apply for I Sammic Scholarship. We read all the CV’s and essays we receive and, sometimes, we find it hard to reject certain applications, since they come from enthusiastic, capable and well prepared candidates… despite nationality.
BasqueStage team considered necessary to limit the call at least in the early editions of the Scholarship, and chose the United States of America for the first edition for several reasons:
First of all, as we ignore the dimension that the project can reach, we tried to focus our effort in a particular geographical area. Second, decided to launch the first edition of Sammic Scholarships in a country where Sammic has a direct presence in order to make the necessary arrangements in situ. Third, among countries in which Sammic has a subsidiary, USA is the largest one and where we might expect the best response.
That said, do not discard to address to other countries or regions, and even launch an open call for future editions of the Sammic Scholarship. Stay tuned!
A few days before planned, we are proud to announce that the candidates can already apply for I Sammic Scholarship, organized by BasqueStage and sponsored by Sammic and Chef Martín Berasategui.
We know that the material the candidates must provide us with requires a little bit of work because part of it must be prepared exclusively for this project. Therefore, the candidates will require some time to have it all ready.
BasqueStage has thought about it and gives the possibility to register for the Scholarship without having to provide the project with all the material at the same time. Once approved the candidacy by BasqueStage jury, the lucky candidate will receive an e-mail with a unique address to complete his application during the open period.
What are you waiting for? Register here!