Cognitive Models for Gastronomic Creation and Innovation

Abstract

Based on the reflections of super-chef Ferran Adrià and his team at el Bulli restaurant, thispaper explores how certain creative mechanisms, techniques and procedures surroundingavant-garde gastronomy can be analysed from an enactivist model of cognition in order to:(1) understand creativity in the kitchen; (2) characterise culinary innovation processes; (3)establish whether some of these processes are general enough to be re-used in other fieldsand so broaden our theoretical understanding of the processes and mechanisms involvedin creation and innovation. We present those features that are specific to gastronomy as acreative process to distinguish them from others that are generic enough to form part of alarger family of creative processes. The paper seeks to present new perspectives on bothsubject-specific and generic creation processes in haute cuisine.