Old Foods, New Forms: A framework for conceptualising the diversification of traditional products through gastronomic innovation

Abstract

Fermentation is experiencing a resurgence, for cultural identity, health, sustainability, community-building, and the exploration of flavour. As old foods find new forms in new places, there is a need for ways to discuss them alongside each other inclusively while differentiating their many proliferating forms— supporting innovation while valuing tradition. To address this challenge, we introduce a conceptual framework for understanding fermentation innovations in a both analytical and culturally sensitive way. The framework consists of a Venn diagram of three overlapping circles, each representing one key factor shaping a food product: ingredients, process, and sensory profile (henceforth ‘three-factor’ or ‘3F’ framework). The intersections of these three factors result in seven fields of categorisation—‘Traditional’, ‘Analogue’, ‘Experimental’, ‘Faults & Emic Innovations’, ‘Related’, ‘Adjacent’, and ‘Facsimile’—defined by how and how much they diverge from the traditional product at the center. After developing the framework theoretically, we apply it to three case studies: miso, garum, and cheese. Taken together, the framework and its applications show how lightly structuring the complexity of the world can illuminate new patterns without oversimplifying them, and can illustrate how culinary traditions change as they travel and as the world around us changes.