Gastronomic research and innovation at UCPH FOOD
Denmark has a successful food industry and over the last 15 years we have also achieved a special position in the field of gastronomy. At the Department of Food Science (UCPH FOOD) at the University of Copenhagen, we contribute to maintaining and developing both the gastronomy and food industry by researching food and sustainable processing that can optimise the culinary and sensory properties of food.
At UCPH FOOD, we have knowledge and research competencies in a wide range of traditional and modern methods for processing food on both a small and large scale. With gastronomy and food science as our starting point, it is our goal to create new delicious food and processing methods that address challenges for both society and the food system – from small scale producers, to the restaurant and catering industries, to large scale industrial production. In other words, we take the initiative in gastronomy to develop the entire food system in a sustainable direction with good taste as the weapon that will ensure dissemination to as many as possible.
Eating is an interaction between food and man, which is why we research dining experiences and what forms our interest in new types of dining experiences. We are exploring new raw materials and underutilised biological resources, including cephalopods, macroalgae and insects, to increase the sustainability of food production with good taste as the argument that can pave the way for dissemination in all communities. We use techniques and raw materials from all over the world to develop new foods that as many as possible want to eat with the compelling motivation that they taste good. Recent examples of our work are preparations of tempe, a traditional food based on legumes fermented with certain fungi (Rhizopus spp.) and the development and characterisation of new methods for cooking squid (cephalopods) from the sea around Denmark. In addition, in collaboration with a brewery, we have developed a high quality beer with great aging/storage potential.
The Department of Food Science researches quality and taste, which involves basic food science questions about how the chemistry and physics of raw materials control the changes in flavour and texture that occur during processing. We often work with composite foodstuffs, which means that many different subdisciplines of food research must be mastered and controlled systematically and their interactions must be understood on a basic level that can ensure the highest possible quality of the finished foods and meals.
An example of a more fundamental research question that we have worked on is the changes that take place in various culinary processes with squid (cephalopods) and the characterisation of the physical and chemical processes that take place during these preparations. Another example is to clarify the value chain for waste and the surplus production of fruit, vegetables and berries from Danish farmers and producers as well as the development of a vacuum drying technique that converts the surplus production of fruit and vegetables into dry, delicious, stable products with good nutritional value.
The researchers in the field of gastronomy and innovation contribute to the teaching of the Master’s programme Food Innovation and Health in the field ‘Food Design Thinking’, where students gain the skills to act where innovation, business and good taste intersect. In addition, the researchers are active in the Food Incubator, where students and others with entrepreneurial ambitions can take the first tentative steps towards the development of a business.
The research area makes use of the food-approved laboratories at UCPH FOOD, Gastro Science Lab and Future Consumer Lab. In addition, UCPH FOOD also has pilot plants for baking, brewing, dairy and meat processing as well as incubators for food fermentation.
Internationally, UCPH FOOD collaborates with Institute Paul Bocuse, while nationally we work in close collaboration with, for example, Alchemist, University College Lillebælt, DTU, AU, SDU, and we cooperate with other departments at the Faculty of Science, SCIENCE.
Contact
Karsten Olsen
Associate Professor
ko@food.ku.dk
Michael Bom Frøst
Associate Professor
mbf@food.ku.dk
