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Cooking forms the core of our cultural identity other than being the basis of
nutrition and health. The increasing availability of culinary data and the advent of
computational methods for their scrutiny is dramatically changing the artistic
outlook towards gastronomy. Starting with a seemingly simple question, ‘Why do
we eat what we eat?’ data-driven research conducted in our lab has led to
interesting explorations of traditional recipes, their flavor composition, and health
associations. Our investigations have revealed ‘culinary fingerprints’ of regional
cuisines across the world, starting with the case study of Indian cuisine.
Application of data-driven strategies for investigating the gastronomic data has
opened up exciting avenues giving rise to an all-new field of ‘Computational
Gastronomy’. This emerging interdisciplinary science asks questions of culinary
origin to seek their answers via the compilation of culinary data and their analysis
using methods of statistics, computer science, and artificial intelligence. Along
with complementary experimental studies, these endeavors have the potential to
transform the food landscape by effectively leveraging data-driven food
innovations for better health and nutrition. |