Classification of Unelaborated Culinary Products: Scientific and Culinary Approaches Meet Face to Face

Food, Culture & Society An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSN: 1552-8014 (Print) 1751-7443 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rffc20 Classification of Unelaborated Culinary Products: Scientific and Culinary Approaches Meet Face to Face Ugo D’Ambrosio, Marta Vila, Ferran Adrià, Laura Bayés-García, Sergio Calsamiglia, Pere Castells, Oriol Castro, Teresa Garnatje, Joaquim Gosálbez, Joan Jofre, Abel Mariné, Lourdes Reig, Màrius Rubiralta, Eduard Xatruch & Joan Vallès To cite this article: Ugo D’Ambrosio, Marta Vila, Ferran Adrià, Laura Bayés-García, Sergio Calsamiglia, Pere Castells, Oriol Castro, Teresa Garnatje, Joaquim Gosálbez, Joan Jofre, Abel Mariné, Lourdes Reig, Màrius Rubiralta, Eduard Xatruch & Joan Vallès (2017) Classification of Unelaborated Culinary Products: Scientific and Culinary Approaches Meet Face to Face, Food, Culture & Society, 20:3, 525-553 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2017.1288790 Published online: 10 Mar 2017. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 269 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rffc20 Download by: [161.116.92.169] Date: 25 July 2017, At: 05:59 Food, Culture& Society VOLUME 20 │ ISSUE 3 │ SEPTEMBER 2017 Classification of Unelaborated Culinary Products: Scientific and Culinary Approaches Meet Face to Face Ugo D’Ambrosioa,b†, Marta Vilaa†, Ferran Adriàc, Laura Bayés-Garcíaa, Sergio Calsamigliad, Pere Castellsa, Oriol Castroc, Teresa Garnatjeb, Joaquim Gosálbeza, Joan Jofrea, Abel Marinéa, Lourdes Reige, Màrius Rubiraltaa, Eduard Xatruchc and Joan Vallèsa aUniversitat de Barcelona; bInstitut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB-CSIC-ICUB); cElBulliFoundation; dUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona; eUniversitat Politècnica de Catalunya Abstract The ongoing academization of gastronomic studies indicates the necessity for a commonly accepted classification system for cooks that does not contradict scientific approaches. This work discusses the fundamentals used by chefs and scientists to classify unelaborated food products; proposes taxonomic gastronomy as a new interdisciplinary framework that studies the taxonomy surrounding gastronomy; and pre- sents a categorization of unelaborated food products that follows commonly accepted culinary criteria yet avoids contradiction by scientific knowledge. As little literature focuses on these issues, and similar experiences are scarce, it is concluded that fur- ther cross-disciplinary endeavors such as this will continue to be greatly fruitful. Keywords: gastronomy, academization of cooking, classification systems, unelaborated culinary products, plants, fungi, animals, micro-organisms, minerals, DOI: 10.1080/15528014.2017.1288790 interdisciplinary approach Reprints available directly from the publishers. Photocopying permitted by licence only © Association for the † Study of Food and Society 2017 Both authors contributed equally to this work. 525 U. D’AMBROSIOU. ET Introduction One of the oldest and most significant endeavors that human beings have em- barked on is to name and classify a myriad of objects surrounding them, espe- A cially those used for specifically relevant purposes (Berlin 1992). Outstanding L. L. among such entities are living organisms and mineral products used as food and ◊ CL drink, because they have been and continue to be particularly germane for surviv- A al and human evolution. In addition, the classification of foodstuffs has been high- SSIFI ly important not only on a general scale, but especially for professional cooks, as well as—although often indirectly—for scientists in various academic fields. CA We address in this paper unelaborated products, understanding by this food TION OF UNEL OF TION products that are used directly in cooking activities, not after a process that could transform them, or obtain from them, elaborated products; for instance, an orange is an unelaborated product, but its juice or a jam made with oranges are elaborated products. Folk, professional, and scientific classifications of unelaborated food products (and their parts) are not necessarily always coincidental between them— A or even within them—as the ways in which distinct groups of people observe BOR and conceptualize food can be remarkably different. At the same time, systems and outcomes of such classifications are, certainly, in constant evolution ac- A TE cording to the knowledge and beliefs people have in a particular sphere and D moment. As an example, the scientific classification of the elements of nature C in three kingdoms, i.e., animals, plants, and minerals, proposed in 1675 by U LIN Nicolas Lemery (Lemery 1713), and popularized by Karl von Linnaeus (Linnae- us 1735), common in textbooks up to the second half of the nineteenth century A RY PRO RY (Hogg 1860; Haeckel 1866), was replaced by newer proposals with the devel- opment of microscopy, cell biology, and genetics amongst other disciplines, and with the incorporation of other major biological groups such as monera (bacteria), protists and fungi (Margulis 1974; Margulis and Schwartz 1982; DUC Woese, Kandler, and Wheelis 1990). New advances in science and cooking with the ongoing academization of TS gastronomic studies—reflected in many regulated studies for professional cooks, even at a university degree level— point to the necessity for a commonly accepted system of classification for cooks that does not contradict scientific approaches, yet very little has been done in this respect. Such a classification system could benefit from previous ones, in order to create a solid and robust categorization structure that is nevertheless flexible and adaptable to change. Furthermore, to our knowledge no attempt has been made to analyze and reconcile the classification of food products between scientific and culinary approaches. In fact, no scientific literature seems to address the caveats of classification systems within the sphere of professional cooks, while cooks have usually not addressed the lack of consensus within culinary classifications of food products. 526 Based on these premises, the aims of the present work are: (i) to discuss the fundamentals used to classify unelaborated food products and their parts by professional cooks on one side, and by scientists (biologists studying organisms along with geologists) on the other; (ii) to propose a new interdisciplinary framework—termed here as taxonomic gastronomy—that studies and analyses the taxonomy surrounding gastronomy (e.g., products, tools, techniques), within a systemic approach to food studies; and (iii) to offer a consensual and flexible framework for the categorization of unelaborated food products (and their parts) derived from the direct collaboration of chefs and academics, which follows commonly accepted culinary criteria yet avoids contradiction by scientific knowledge. In what follows, we present the methodology employed in this research, followed by the conceptual background on existing classification systems from both the culinary and scientific points of view. A taxonomy of gastronomy is proposed later, followed by the consensus classification system reached by co-authoring scientists and cooks, with concluding remarks. Methodology This work has been carried out transdisciplinarily by the elBulliLab culinary team (elBulliFoundation, led by Chef Ferran Adrià) and the UB-Bullipedia academic unit at the Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the Universitat de Barcelona (University of Barcelona). Academic collaborations from the Univer- sitat de Barcelona included the Laboratory of Botany (Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science), and the Laboratories of Animal Biology and Microbiology (Fac- ulty of Biology), along with the Laboratory of Crystallography and Mineralogy (Faculty of Geology). Equally, the Botanical Institute of Barcelona (CSIC-ICUB), the Department of Animal and Food Sciences (Universitat Autònoma de Barce- lona, Autonomous University of Barcelona), and the Department of Agri-Food Engineering and Biotechnology (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Poly- technic University of Catalonia) also participated during the whole taxonomic process. These teams have defined the multifaceted nature of the resulting un- derstandings and classification system. This classificatory process was begun in 2013 by a team of cooks from el- BulliLab and a small team from the UB-Bullipedia Unit—at that point recently created—with an initial analysis of the state of the art. Such an analysis was used to build a first proposal of classification that merged culinary and scientific perspectives. In March–April 2013 a team of experts from the UB-Bullipedia Unit was created in order to bring together the team of cooks from elBulliLab with academics from the UB-Bullipedia Unit. Eight meetings were organized, one every two months approximately. In light of the conclusions reached in these meetings, elBulliLab team created new versions of the classification, which were then sent to the UB-Bullipedia Unit experts for corroboration. Fol- VOLUME 20 lowing this methodology, a first agreement was reached in September 2013; ISSUE 3 however, it was later adapted. The second and final agreement was reached in SEPTEMBER 2017 July 2014 and the classification was first presented in September 2014 in the 527 U. D’AMBROSIOU. ET A L. L. ◊ CL A SSIFI CA TION OF UNEL OF TION A BOR A TE D Fig. 1: Classification systems of food

Load more