Ibiza is launching the island’s first academic specialist course dedicated specifically to its traditional cuisine and gastronomic culture, giving a small group of students the opportunity to learn local recipes, ingredients, techniques and food traditions directly from experienced Ibiza cooks, producers and cultural specialists.

The new programme, titled the Curso de Especialista en Cocina Ibicenca, is being delivered by the Escuela de Hostelería de Ibiza during the 2026-2027 academic year. It is organised jointly with the Consell d’Eivissa and Ibiza Town Hall, under the “Això sí, és d’Eivissa” initiative, with collaboration from the Institut d’Estudis Eivissencs and support from the island’s other municipalities.

90 Hours Across Two Trimesters

The course is divided into two three-month periods.

The first runs from October to December 2026, followed by a second period from January to March 2027, making 90 hours of teaching in total.

Classes will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays in the afternoon, with three-hour practical sessions. Optional visits will also be organised on Tuesday mornings, allowing participants to visit producers and food businesses and see traditional products and methods at their source.

The programme is designed around Ibiza’s seasonal food calendar rather than simply presenting a collection of recipes.

Learning Ibiza Cuisine Through the Seasons

The first trimester begins with salt, one of the products most closely associated with Ibiza’s history and the traditional preservation of food.

The programme then moves through the gastronomic calendar, including traditions connected with Tots Sants, Ibiza olive oil, wheat and its different preparations, the traditional pig slaughter and Christmas cooking.

The second trimester moves into Carnival cuisine, rice dishes, Lent and Easter traditions, followed by Ibiza wine and the island’s fish, seafood and maritime cooking.

The course also aims to recover everyday dishes that are less well known outside the island, alongside the festive recipes that are more commonly associated with traditional Ibiza cuisine.

Examples include simple vegetable soups and pickled gerret, highlighting the importance of everyday cooking as part of the island’s culinary heritage.

Local Cooks Bring Decades of Experience

The teaching team includes several cooks with long connections to traditional Ibiza cuisine.

Among them are Catalina Riera of Ca n’Alfredo, Pep Torres “Racó”, head chef at Port Balansat, Antònia Marí of Ca n’Antònia, Claudio Vidal of Rebost de Can Prats, Paco Marí of the former Mesón de Paco and Catalina Ferrer, formerly of Ca na Pepeta.

The programme also includes Maria José Amengual, representing a newer generation of Ibiza culinary talent.

The organisers will additionally bring producers and specialists into the programme to explain traditional practices and local products, including the preparation of dried fish, pig slaughter traditions and food production connected with Ibiza’s countryside and coast.

Participants will also learn directly about products from wineries and olive oil producers, while traditional ovens form another part of the programme.

History Is Part of the Course

The course goes beyond cooking techniques by introducing the historical and cultural background behind Ibiza’s food.

The opening section will include contributions from Lina Sansano, head of the Consell’s Museums and Heritage Service, historian and archaeologist Adriana Serra, and Fanny Tur, head of the Historical Archive of Ibiza Town and Municipal Library.

Food writer and communicator Iban Yarza will also contribute to the section dedicated to Ibiza’s traditional ovens.

The academic coordination with external teachers will be handled by Marga Orell.

More Than a Recipe Book

One of the central ideas behind the course is that traditional Ibiza cuisine cannot be separated from the island’s landscape, seasons and way of life.

The programme follows what traditionally became available from the countryside and the sea at different times of the year, while also examining how food was connected to religious celebrations, community traditions and methods of preserving and using local produce.

That means participants will learn not only how dishes are prepared, but why particular ingredients and recipes became part of Ibiza’s culinary culture.

The organisers also want to bring attention to less celebrated everyday dishes, recognising that traditional food is about much more than the handful of recipes most familiar to visitors.

Connecting the Kitchen With Local Producers

The practical element extends beyond the classroom.

Optional visits will allow students to see how products used in traditional Ibiza cooking are produced, including visits connected with farms, wineries, olive oil production and other local food businesses.

The aim is to reconnect the dishes being prepared in the classroom with the producers, landscapes and traditional practices behind them.

This also gives the course a strong local-produce component, linking culinary heritage with the island’s agricultural and maritime traditions.

Just 15 Places Available

The first edition is limited to 15 students.

The course is open to culinary professionals and students, as well as amateur cooks with existing cooking knowledge.

Participants can enrol for the first trimester alone for €100, the second trimester for €100, or register for the complete two-trimester programme for €175.

The combined price therefore offers a €25 saving compared with enrolling in the two trimesters separately.

Registration Is Open

Registration opened on September 15, 2026.

Applications can be made in person at the Escuela de Hostelería de Ibiza at the Parc Insular de Serveis de sa Coma, or by email at ehib-eivissa@uib.es.

Further information is available from the school on +34 609 880 362.

With only 15 places available, the first edition is intended to provide a close and practical learning experience rather than a large-scale classroom programme.

Preserving a Culinary Heritage

The organisers see the course as part of a wider effort to ensure that Ibiza’s traditional food culture continues to be passed between generations.

Traditional recipes are closely connected to the island’s agricultural and fishing traditions, seasonal products, family celebrations and methods of making the most of what was available locally.

The course therefore seeks to preserve knowledge that might otherwise become less familiar, particularly everyday recipes and techniques that have historically been passed through families rather than formal education.

It also creates a bridge between experienced traditional cooks and a new generation of culinary professionals and enthusiasts.

From Salt and Wheat to Fish and Wine

By following the gastronomic calendar, the programme gives students a picture of Ibiza cuisine across an entire year.

Salt, olive oil, wheat, vegetables, rice, wine, fish and seafood all appear within the course, alongside festive traditions such as Tots Sants, Christmas, Carnival and Easter.

The result is intended to be a broader understanding of Ibiza’s food culture rather than simply a catalogue of famous local dishes.

A New Chapter for Ibiza Cuisine

The launch of the Curso de Especialista en Cocina Ibicenca gives traditional island cuisine a dedicated place within formal culinary education.

With 90 hours of practical teaching, experienced local cooks, visits to producers and contributions from historians and cultural specialists, the programme brings together the food, traditions and stories that have shaped the island’s table.

The first edition begins in October and continues through March 2027, offering 15 students the opportunity to explore Ibiza through one of its oldest forms of cultural heritage: its food.