Tecno-Emotional Cuisine and the Human Sense Case Study: Ecuadorian Food Heritage

Abstract

Techno-emotional cuisine is one of the recent gastronomic trends that is based on the elaboration of dishes in order to stimulate all the human senses. This type of cuisine makes traditionalist paradigms or pre-established rules disappear such as; sweet - salty; or either main or complementary ingredients. It involves the use of techniques and technological tools that lead to create a unique sensory and emotional experience to the diner in each plate, i.e. the holistic concept is really what matters to reach the climax of the consumer and the interaction of all the senses. Techno-emotional cuisine never goes against traditions or the essence of food, on the contrary, it values, respects, evolves and enhances food or traditional dishes that are part of the country’s inherited heritage. Ecuadorian food’s heritage has been identified through the application of the Methodological Manual for the Preparation of the Atlas "Food Heritage", classifying gastronomy by culinary regions of the country and the use of local products (potato, corn, guinea pig, shrimp) as well as imported products (platain, yucca, pork, beef). All these products contribute to the preparation of pre-Hispanic and local dishes. Gastronomic proposals were elaborated with the application of contemporary and avant-garde culinary techniques, so that they were reflected in the production of cookbooks based on products such as; potato, lupin beans, machica, medlar and local informative cuisine magazines like, Ambato and Mocha. The perception of these senses was identified with a 5-point Likert scale. Some encouraging results were obtained from the use of food heritage with avant-garde culinary techniques. The best perceptions were focused on the use of potatoes, medlar and machica, so that some preparations such as; breads, cookies, jams, sauces, drinks, among others were made from these products. Finally, emotional evaluations of food were applied; emotions such as joy, surprise, sadness, nostalgia, among others were identified in this research work