The article by Assoc. Prof. Murat Doğan, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA) at Istanbul Gelişim University (İGU) and a faculty member of the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department, was published in Journal of Hotel Restaurant & Hi-Tech. The article was featured in the journal under the title "Gastronomy Engıneerıng: Can Food Have An Engıneer Too?" The text of the article is provided below.
Gastronomy Engıneerıng: Can Food Have An Engıneer Too?
You probably haven’t heard of the concept of gastronomy engineering. As I mentioned in the title, some of the readers will ask, can food have an engineer or engineer? In fact, some of the readers will say, “Is a new custom being brought to an old village?” Yes, why shouldn’t gastronomy have an engineer or engineer? The concept I mentioned is very new and a niche area that needs to be worked on. I will try to give you brief information about the concept of gastronomy engineering and the field we want to create. But first, it would be useful to start by saying what our motto was when we set out on this path.
“It is important for a chef to conduct food production processes using engineering skills. The quality and taste of the food depend on the production processes and these processes can only be improved by using engineering science.”
A New Perspective
However, we should not forget this. We are not saying that chefs should be engineers. In short, what we want to say is to try to bring a new perspective to chefs. Those who work in food and beverage production processes should have a holistic perspective. When a new perspective is brought to the field of gastronomy with the perspective of engineering science, chefs will be able to use engineering principles and tools in the kitchen; the way will be opened for the preparation of creative and innovative dishes. Thus, it will be revealed how to design the best quality, flavor and visual dishes by guiding the physical and chemical transformations in kitchen applications with the basic achievements of gastronomy engineering.
Engineering Process
The dishes that chefs offer to their guests have tangible and intangible features. Tangible features are physical features such as the taste, flavor, texture and visuality of the food. Intangible features are elements such as the way the food is served and the courtesy of the business. In fact, the food preparation process is an engineering process. In order for chefs to be successful, they need to develop and manage their production processes in the best way with engineering science by taking into account the tangible and intangible aspects of the food. Yes, I am getting to the crux of the matter. In order for these processes to be managed correctly, the physical, chemical, biological and thermodynamic properties of the food should be known and taken into account. For all these reasons, it is inevitable for a chef to improve himself in the field of gastronomy engineering.
Redesigning Food Production Processes from an Engineering Perspective
Food production processes can be divided into cutting and cooking processes. While cutting processes are divided into two as chopping with knives and crushing with grinders, cooking processes are examined in four groups as heat transfer (conduction, convection, thermal radiation and microwave) in the context of engineering. The aim of food preparation is to make the food more edible and delicious.
Cutting processes concern the physical structure of vegetable fibers and meat muscles. Cooking processes should be selected according to the characteristics of the food and should be applied with an analytical perspective that requires engineering formation. For example, vertical and horizontal cutting of root vegetables produces different results; vertical cutting provides crispiness, while horizontal cutting provides softness and faster flavor transition.
Cooking processes trigger chemical reactions, while cutting processes result in physical effects. Processes such as marination involve chemical changes and factors such as duration, osmotic pressure, molar weights of ingredients and salt density are important from an engineering perspective.
Ensuring food quality is linked to sensory evaluation. The taste, appearance and texture of food are evaluated by physiological and subjective factors. For example, red and orange colors are perceived as higher quality in winter, and blue and green colors are perceived as higher quality in summer. Food textures can also be evaluated differently in different cultures.
Gastronomic Engineering
Gastronomic engineering is a field that aims to prepare creative and innovative dishes using engineering principles and tools. Since ancient times, engineering has expanded from land surveying to machinery with the Industrial Revolution and today to biotechnology. While food engineering focuses more on industrial products, gastronomic engineering should apply scientific and engineering principles in the kitchen as a new field of engineering. This field recommends rational and scientific experiments instead of trial and error methods. Engineering structures such as edible films, gel beads and nitrogen freezing used in modern kitchens are part of gastronomic engineering. The cooking process involves heat and mass transfer phenomena, and engineering science optimizes these processes in the kitchen. In this way, chefs can create new and surprising textures and flavors in dishes.
As a result, the basic components of gastronomy engineering are: (1) food physics, which is the structure of the food, (2) food chemistry, which investigates the microstructures and interactions of the food, (3) food cells and microbes. We have determined the biology of foods that are used, (4) the mathematics that can be used to measure, weigh and scale recipes in the kitchen, (5) the basic engineering knowledge that is the key to product and process design that will enable the journey to food, (6) the thermodynamics of food and the kitchen, and (7) the smooth journey of food from farm to fork to food safety.
Stay healthy…
Assoc. Prof. Murat Doğan
