The Bachelor in International Culinary Arts (BICA), also identified as the Bachelor of Arts in International Culinary Arts (BA-ICA), is a four-year undergraduate culinary degree offered by Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management (SMSH), Lainchaur, Kathmandu, in academic partnership with Queen Margaret University (QMU), Edinburgh, UK.
The program carries 360 credit points and combines professional kitchen practice with hospitality management, food science, gastronomy, food culture, food communication, enterprise creation, event management, and two internship periods. Its curriculum progresses from food hygiene and basic culinary operations to advanced gastronomy, global cuisine, modernist gastronomy, culinary concept development, and applied projects.
| Particular | Details |
|---|---|
| Course | Bachelor of Arts in International Culinary Arts (BA-ICA / BICA) |
| Institution | Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management |
| Location | Lainchaur, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Academic partner | Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK |
| Duration | 4 years |
| Academic structure | 8 semesters |
| Credit points | 360 |
| Eligibility | +2 / HSEB or equivalent in any stream |
| Intake | One intake per academic year |
| Internship | Two domestic or international internship periods |
| Main focus | Culinary practice, gastronomy, food studies, management, and enterprise |
BICA is structured for students who want culinary education at bachelor's level rather than a short professional cooking course. Kitchen practice is a central part of the program, but the curriculum also covers the commercial, cultural, scientific, and communication sides of food.
The first four semesters gradually develop culinary technique while introducing restaurant management, food hygiene, marketing, accounting, human resource management, nutrition, purchasing, and menu management. The fifth semester is assigned to internship and project work.
Students return in the sixth and seventh semesters for subjects such as modernist gastronomy, food journalism and photography, food culture, food communication, culinary concept development, enterprise creation, and live event management. The eighth semester provides another period of internship or job placement with project work.
This structure gives the course a broader academic scope than kitchen training alone.
The first semester introduces culinary operations alongside academic and communication skills.
Subjects include:
Food hygiene and culinary operations establish the practical starting point, while restaurant management and communication introduce students to the wider hospitality setting in which professional kitchens operate.
The second semester develops cooking skills while adding environmental and commercial subjects.
Students study:
Professional Cooking and Intermediate Kitchen Operations provide the culinary core of the semester, while marketing and environmental management broaden the study beyond food preparation.
The third semester combines more advanced culinary work with accounting, supervision, and food service.
Subjects include:
At this stage, students move into Advanced Gastronomy and Advanced Culinary Artistry while also studying how hospitality businesses manage people, finances, and service.
The fourth semester concentrates on menu planning, food science, ingredients, and international cuisine.
Students study:
This semester links culinary production with ingredient selection, nutrition, purchasing, menu decisions, and practical work with global cuisines.
The fifth semester consists of:
The internship gives students an extended period outside regular classroom and kitchen sessions. It allows them to encounter professional routines while completing associated project work.
Students return to campus for:
This semester introduces a different mix of culinary and communication work. Food Journalism & Photography looks at how food can be documented and communicated, while Modernist Gastronomy provides an advanced practical component.
A distinctive sixth-semester activity is the “Nature on a Plate: Modernist Gastronomy” assessment. It is conducted outside the campus. Students receive a budget, purchase ingredients from a local market, and prepare an assigned menu around a farm-to-table idea. The exercise brings ingredient selection, budgeting, cooking, presentation, and dining advice into a single practical assessment.
The seventh semester extends culinary study into food systems, culture, communication, business creation, and project work.
Subjects include:
The semester is notable because it asks students to look beyond individual recipes and kitchen techniques. Food is studied in relation to society, communication, production, enterprise, and events.
Project Managing a Live Event requires students to work with event planning and delivery. Areas involved include concept development, design, administration, sales, marketing, customer service, staffing, safety, budgeting, sponsorship, and stakeholder management.
The group-based project also requires coordination and evaluation of an actual event rather than only written study of event management.
The final semester consists of:
This gives students a second substantial period of industry-based learning before completing the four-year degree.
Silver Mountain School of Hotel Management has dedicated facilities for culinary and hospitality practice.
For BICA students, the International Culinary Arts Kitchen is particularly relevant. The wider campus also includes a BHM Kitchen, restaurants, food and beverage facilities, an Oenology/Wine Academy and Bar, and the Silver Mountain Training Hotel.
Practical work within the BICA curriculum develops in stages:
This progression means practical cooking continues across different levels of the degree rather than appearing only during the opening semesters.
The BICA program is delivered through Silver Mountain's academic partnership with Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
BA International Culinary Arts is part of the degree portfolio delivered through the relationship between QMU and Silver Mountain. The partnership also includes BA International Hospitality & Tourism Management and MBA Hospitality.
For BICA students, the university connection sits alongside local delivery at the Silver Mountain campus in Kathmandu.
Eligibility: Applicants should have completed +2 / HSEB or an equivalent qualification in any stream.
Students are therefore not restricted to a particular higher-secondary stream when applying for the program.
Intake: The course has one intake per academic year.
Two extended industry periods are built into the curriculum.
The fifth semester consists of domestic or international internship and project work. The eighth semester provides domestic or international internship or job placement together with project work.
These periods complement the kitchen practicals completed during the taught semesters. Students first develop culinary skills through structured practical modules and then encounter professional food and hospitality operations during industry placements.
The wider SMSH teaching approach also includes guest lectures, seminars, hotel visits, and interaction with hospitality professionals.
BICA includes several subjects that distinguish a bachelor's degree in culinary arts from a cooking-only qualification.
Students encounter:
This combination addresses culinary practice as well as the management, communication, cultural, and commercial issues connected with food businesses.
The course content can relate to different parts of culinary, restaurant, hospitality, and food-related work.
Possible areas include:
Individual roles depend on professional experience, skills, recruitment requirements, and career progression. Completion of the degree does not by itself guarantee a particular position or employment outcome.
Duration: The Bachelor in International Culinary Arts is a four-year program delivered across eight semesters.
The program consists of 360 credit points.
Eligibility: Students who have completed +2 / HSEB or an equivalent qualification in any stream may apply.
Affiliation: The degree is delivered in academic partnership with Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK.
Yes. Internship and project work are included in the fifth semester, with another internship or job-placement period and project work in the eighth semester.
No. Practical culinary work is central to the course, but students also study food science, nutrition, restaurant management, accounting, marketing, human resources, food communication, events, enterprise creation, and food culture.
Practical modules include Culinary Operations, Intermediate Kitchen Operations, Advanced Culinary Artistry, Mastery on Global Cuisine, and Modernist Gastronomy.
Yes. Food Journalism & Photography is included in the sixth semester, while Food & Communication appears in the seventh semester.
