At the end of August, South Africa hosted the latest World Conference of Food Science and Technology, organised by the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST). The general theme of the conference was the concept "Food Solutions in an Evolving World", with the aim of highlighting the role played by food research in guaranteeing the security, sustainability and nutrition of all.

The conference's scientific programme encompasses a number of different food-related areas of interest, including nutrition and health, food security, nanotechnology, engineering and canning, consumer trends and gastronomic sciences, among others. The event was attended by 1,700 people, and featured over 200 oral presentations and 800 posters.

The researchers Juan Carlos Arboleya and Clara Talens from AZTI-Tecnalia gave two oral papers during the session dedicated to gastronomic sciences, presenting the results of some of the work carried out as part of the collaborative agreement established between AZTI-Tecnalia, Restaurante Mugaritz (2 Michelin stars) and Restaurante Etxanobe (1 Michelin star).

Under the title "New trends for food design: interactions between science and cooking", the two researchers presented an alternative to the traditional process of designing a new food product, in which the involvement of chefs may have a positive impact on the development of new healthy products with improved sensorial characteristics. By means of a demonstration of two specific examples, the methodology for optimising the chef's great idea was explained. The initial creative phase is followed by scientific development, knowledge transfer in the kitchen and finally, the result on the plate presentation.

Also, under the title "Industrial approach to chef's creativity", the researchers explained the results of a gourmet pre-cooked meal industrialisation project which seeks to generate added value in the form of sensorial quality. The dishes are created by chefs at the Etxanobe Restaurant in collaboration with the company INDARGENIA. The aim was to present a more industrial perspective of the collaboration between science and cooking, complementing the first paper, which had a more scientific-gastronomic approach and which focused more on the early stages of product development.

In short, the presentations strove to outline a strategy for combining chefs' creativity with scientific-technological knowledge in the development of new products, turning recipes into formulas, adapting culinary technology to industrial processes and using analytical tools such as sensorial analysis or rheology to optimise the formulas, in an attempt to create a common language shared by both technologists and chefs alike.

The papers were enthusiastically received by an audience made up by representatives from both the scientific community and the food industry, and the complementary nature of the two presentations proved a key element in providing answers for both groups, showing the scientific world how useful the interaction between science and cooking can be, and demonstrating to the industrial world the enormous economic potential of this merger.

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