Diners in the 21st Century
Saragossa, City of Reflection on Gastronomy25th - 26th May 2009
Link to www.gastronomia-aragonesa.com
REFLECTIONS
1 .- The current cuisine is a reflection of the diversity that is embedded in society
In the era of globalization there is greater interaction of cultures and environments. Cultures are diverse and are intermingled in the same places, leading to a greater mix of cultures and ways of cooking food. The environments are a result of the different situations in which food is taken, which are conditioned by where, how and why. There are no set standards as soon as food intake and can happen anywhere, in any manner at any time. The dishes that are offered many different roles trying to meet the expectations of guests.
2 .- The guests are diverse and varied behavior of a commensal
Rising incomes allow diners to access the most food and restaurants. In a restaurant can have a wide variety of diners. Have different perceptions, based on the recommendations coming from the restaurant as well as the influence of the information they receive before sitting at the table, among other factors. The behavior of a single diner can be very different depending on personal circumstances and the community in which they are feeding. All this makes for a great variety of combinations to feed.
3 .- We need better information so that the diner in making more informed choices
Is known about the gastronomic but little of the motivations that lead to the diner to make decisions. Your wishes are very different but the pleasure, health and comfort are three elements that significantly influence their choices. The information must always be present so that more diners choose among various alternatives, especially when the products are not recognizable. It is necessary that the institutions which try and pass the information on food safety credible. The transmission of information is the desire but the diner has a limited capacity to assimilate what it communicates.
4 .- The diner appreciates current tastes but also seeking to experiment with other aspects
The taste of food has always been an important factor in assessing the diners. Without sacrificing the taste, the current value commensal other aspects such as aesthetics, fun, modernity, and so on. Part of a set of difficult feelings and emotions of story but, if you feel happy, makes repeated intake diners at a restaurant or a particular dish. The new experiments are located in the culinary art as a basis for their development. These new approaches can bring positive aspects, linked to innovation, and negative for the largest possible distance between the diner and kitchen.
5 .- The codes are changing culinary Valuation
The food, especially high-end, is a process of rapid change and assessment of existing codes are also suffering serious transformations. A code that is emerging from the relationship between groups of scientists and cooks. Perhaps it is necessary that a leadership that highlight patterns of the new codes but not because there are fixed rules. Codes of ethics to act in the kitchens provide greater transparency and security. Institutions as agents of food security should also be considered. Diners have to be considered among the participants in the creation of new codes.
6 .- The critical importance of traditional cuisine has given way to high-impact visibility in certain media
The culinary critic, based on the professional tour guides of different nature, is losing the strength it had before. Reputation, which goes through certain media, is taking a leading role in the evaluation and relevance of food. Diners flock to new sources of information and their recommendations have a major impact. Given this change in communication, some restaurants, go to agencies of communication and public relations to increase its visibility. This new act raises criticism among professionals are accustomed to act in a more traditional.
7 .- The food industry is changing the actions of cooks
Currently, in the kitchen, there are a greater number of products processed. Existing technology, in restaurants, it enables the combination of raw materials and processed products. Agribusiness, with their transformation processes, facilitate this work. In some restaurants of haute cuisine using highly sophisticated processes that could be protected and promoted by the food industry. It is necessary to find the right balance between power companies, which aim to sell their products, skills and knowledge of chefs and diners have the information.
8 .- The description is used for natural products and man may be inaccurate
There are messages in search of nature and disdain for the artificial. The natural
associated with the image of the innocuous and artificial as dangerous. Such differentiation may be incorrect, as the continuing domestication of plants has brought an action against nature or natural. Part of the genetic change of the plants was to remove toxic substances and to the increase in size. Virtually anything that is natural but that we consume is genetically modified. However, other people understand what is natural as the closest, most fresh and most traditional. The goodness of organic products should be evaluated more rigorously.
9 .- The role of additives in the preparation of dishes in the kitchen needs to be regulated
There is a gradual evolution in the supply of recognizable and distinct, in restaurants, to the composition of nutrients that make up a product. Additives have an important role in the new compositions. Incorporation has enabled innovation and new dishes to make a qualitative leap to the forefront of kitchen. Some have not feared for their use, believing that the processes are controlled by institutions that control food safety, and others who think otherwise as they consider that their abuse is a hazard to human health. We must take steps to ensure that there is no doubt the guests.
10 .- The technological advances will most restaurants serve an individual
Globalization has brought greater uniformity but also a greater interest in local cuisine and the ability of the territories to be distinct dishes. Within the mass there is also a tendency to meet the needs of diners in a more individualized. Evidence of this is to offer foods that are not allergic to certain components, which affect part of the population, or food for coeliacs. Neuroscience can make important developments in the interpretation of the flavors. Advances in nutrigenomics, linking nutrition to the human genome, will meet with greater precision the needs of individuals.