Culinary Institute of America to Teach Instagram Skills

Along with mastering essential knife skills and learning classic flavour combinations, students at one of the world’s most prestigious culinary schools will soon be brushing up on their food photography skills, as part of their study programs.

According to a report in The New York Times, the Culinary Institute of America – alumni include Grant Achatz, Anthony Bourdain and Roy Choi – is to offer two new courses starting in May 2018 focusing on food photography and food styling. Students will be taught camera and lighting skills, shot composition and cooking tricks to make their plates more visually appealing on the ‘gram.

Instagram is of course a hugely useful marketing tool for many chefs and restaurants, but the new courses aren’t designed to show students how to make ‘Instagrammable’ food as such, more "how to cook for the still camera, ‘with the same values as if you were eating it, evoking the feeling that it’s going to be luscious,’" say those working on the project, how to "communicate flavour."

The aim is also to provide students with certain skills should they choose a food career away from the kitchen, such as in food education or media.

Take a look at some of our favourite dishes over on the Fine Dining Lovers Instagram.