The Medicine and Humanities Study Abroad program, organized by the Vice Rectorate for Internationalization and Cooperation at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), is hosting students from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). This program features cross-disciplinary training, and during the third week of June, the American students took part in gastronomical and cultural endeavors to better learn about our traditions. This third part of the program, entitled ‘Mediterranean Diet: Food Diversity and Health,’ was led by UMH Professor, José Ángel Pérez Álvarez.

On June 21, the group of students partook in wine tasting, and they were guided by Juana Reche, an investigator in various enological projection projects at the UMH and who is also an enologist at the Yeguada del Convento Winery. The UTSA students savored an interesting sampling of wines and they learned about manual wine production techniques from the very first steps up until the wine is bottled, and they also learned about the wide variety in wine production. UMH faculty who coordinated the event included Casilda Navarro Rodriguez de Vera, who enlightened them on the traditions of turron (nougat) and horchata (tiger nut milk) within the Valencian Community, and María Estrella Sayas Barberá explained different classes and qualities of olive oils produced in Spain. There was also a workshop to learn to distinguish between different varieties of grapes and olives, the peculiarities of each, and their flavors. Other participants in this event included UMH Vice Rector for Internationalization and Cooperation, Vicente Micol Molina, and UMH Rector, Juan José Ruiz Martínez.

On June 22, the American students visited the city center of Elche, and there they toured some of the city’s most important monuments, including its palm groves, the sacramental ceremony of the Misteri d’Elx, along with the Basilica of Santa María. It was after these visits that they saw the demonstration of how to make an authentic Valencian paella, which was directed by chef and master of paellas, Julián Fernández, who was accompanied by rice experts, Ximo Carrión and Luis Martín. During the preparation of the paella, the chef explained the steps to follow and he encouraged the students to make their own paellas in the traditional style of the Valencian orchards. To top it off, they finished by eating the fine results from the green spaces behind the Arenals Building on the Elche Campus.