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Conferences & lectures

Gastrophysics: The New Sciences of the Table


Date & time
Friday, October 16, 2015
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Speaker(s)

Dr. Charles Spence, Head of the Crossmodal Research Lab, Oxford University

Cost

This event is free

Contact

Natalie Doonan

Where

Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex
1515 St. Catherine W.
Room EV-1.605

Wheel chair accessible

Yes

What is the perfect meal? We can probably all think of at least one especially memorable dinner. For some, it might be something as simple as a picnic in a meadow or fish & chips by the seaside. For others, it will be that once in a lifetime trip to one of the world’s top Michelin-starred restaurants. Wherever it was, what made it so special wasn’t just the food.

In this talk, Dr. Charles Spence will argue that what makes for a great eating experience depends far more on the ‘everything else’ that surrounds the meal than many of us realize: It depends on everything from the mood we are in through to the company we keep, and from the sensory environment in which we eat and imbibe through to the plating, plateware, and cutlery.

Dr. Spence will review the emerging body of gastrophysics research that is helping to isolate just how important these various factors are to our perception and enjoyment of food. He will discuss some of the most exciting recent examples of the dynamic collaborations between chefs, designers, and sensory scientists that have generated the plethora of immersive, experiential (possibly experimental), and most definitely multisensory, dining experiences now on offer. Finally, Dr. Spence will show how the search for the perfect meal can lead to interventions that may potentially help (in some small way) to tackle the growing obesity crisis, not to mention providing some intriguing ideas about how to get us all to shift to a rather more sustainable insect-based diet in the decades ahead.

The lecture will be accompanied by the presentation of certain unusual gustibles for the audience to sample.


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