PROJECT GASTRONOMIA 2018

Youssef designs Kitchen Theory’s Gastrophysics Chef’s Table, corporate experiences and product ‘sensplorations’ , by combining his exceptional culinary skills with ongoing research into the scientific field of gastrophysics, carried out in collaboration with Professor Charles Spence, head of Oxford University’s Crossmodal Department. Youssef’s contribution towards scientific research in the field of gastronomy has led him to travel the world sharing the findings and unique creative method; in which science is used to enhance experience design, resulting in gastronomic experiences which led to Kitchen Theory becoming among the most successful pop-up restaurants in London. Most recently, Youssef has created the Gastrophysics Chef’s Table, at which he hosts 10 guests, who are set to experience the most multisensory chef’s table in London.

She joined the Department of Health in 1992, and was involved with the implementation of UK food regulations, and dealing with food incidents. She transferred to the Food Standards Agency when it was set up in 2000.  Sarah became involved in the investigation of a number of national food frauds and meat scams, and was Secretary to the Waste Food Task Force.

Heading up the Imported Food Division, in June 2004, Sarah successfully delivered improvements in Local Authority enforcement of imported food controls in the wake of the Foot and Mouth Disease. In 2009 she was appointed to lead the Division responsible for implementation of food safety and food standards (including wine standards, safer food better business; food hygiene rating scheme; and safe food for the Olympic Games). In 2013 Sarah was seconded to DEFRA as Secretary to the Elliott Review.

Sarah is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Environmental Health, and an active member of the RSPH Food Special Interest Group.

Peruvian Chef and restaurateur of Central (Peru) and Lima (London, Dubai), Virgilio chooses to approach the diversity of our ingredients in a manner similar to that used by the peoples of the Andes in pre-Hispanic times: through vertical ecological monitoring.  In collaboration with his sister Malena Martinez, Virgilio leads “Mater iniciativa” the biological and cultural research center behind Central Restaurante, where they have come to understand that a plate of food will never be more important than the tradition of a single ingredient.

According to this alternative way of understanding the geography, land is perceived not as a horizontal plane but rather vertically, so it takes advantage of all that the flora and fauna are able to deliver according to the particularities of each ecological system. As a result of the dramatic fluctuations in the Andean terrain in a relatively small radius of 100 kilometers (for many farmers this is not a difficult hike), there is direct access to the country’s products from various altitudes ranging from the coast to the Amazon. Motivated by an insatiable curiosity and interest in conveying the complexity of their land, Virgilio is passionate about traveling and investigating ingredients that can bring undocumented and yet even more wealth to the local cuisine. To do so, through a number of areas: ocean, lower Andes, extreme altitude, and high and low jungles. He also has an interdisciplinary team that complements each new “discovery” in a necessary context that seeks to transcend the strictly culinary and penetrate nutritional, biological, anthropological aspects.

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Paul Brereton

The Director of Strategic Alliances

Paul Brereton is Director of Strategic Alliances (Professor of Practice) at Queen’s University Belfast. A senior scientist working at science-policy interface, he has over 30 years’ experience of applied research in the area of food safety and quality. As well as leading numerous national activities, Paul has co-ordinated two of the world’s largest research projects in the area of food authenticity and traceability…

These projects are namely the €20M TRACE project (tracing the origin of food) and currently FOODINTEGRITY a €12M EU sponsored research project that aims to address, at a European level, many of the gaps identified during the recent horsemeat incident. He has published over 70 peer reviewed papers on food safety and quality and edited the book “New analytical approaches for verifying the origin of food” (Elsevier). He and has close links with the food industry, UK Public sector, academia and the European Commission.

Professor Barry Smith

The Philosopher

Director of the Institute of Philosophy at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study and the founding director of its Centre for the Study of the Senses, which pioneers collaborative research links between philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists. Barry works on the multisensory nature of perceptual experience, taste, smell and flavour.

He has published theoretical and experimental papers, writing in Nature, Food Quality and Preference, Chemical Senses and Flavour and is the editor of Questions of Taste: the philosophy of wine (Oxford University Press). In his research he collaborates with chefs and artists, and consults for the food and drinks industry. He has worked with Courvoisier, Diageo, Unilever, Haagen-Dazs, Mumm, Perrier Jouet, The Fat Duck restaurant and The Champagne Bureau. Barry is a frequent broadcaster, and has appeared on BBC One’s Masterchef , BBC Two’s Inside the Factory, and contributes to BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet.  In 2017 he wrote and presented a ten-part series on the senses for the BBC Radio 4, The Uncommon Senses. He is a wine columnist for Prospect Magazine.

 

Bill Knott

The Food Writer

Bill Knott started his career as a chef before co-founding the food and drink magazine Eat Soup in 1995. He has since written for a host of magazines and newspapers worldwide, including stints as restaurant critic for the Daily Telegraph, BBC Good Food and BA High Life and – in his present incarnation – The Gannet in the Financial Times.

He has written the monthly Masterclass column in Restaurant magazine for the last 12 years, featuring a host of top chefs cooking their favourite dishes. He is also the wine columnist for The Oldie, and has led food and wine tours to Champagne, Bordeaux, the Rhône, the Loire, Sicily and the Douro Valley.

Bill has also featured frequently on television and radio, appearing several times as a judge on The Great British Menu and a pundit on Daily Politics, as well as on Radio 4’s The Food Programme and Today. When not travelling the world in pursuit of great food and wine, or as an ambassador for the international humanitarian charity Action Against Hunger, he lives in West London, surrounded by cookbooks. He never skips lunch. 

 

Charlotte Catignani

The R&D Open Innovator

Charlotte is the Research and Development Manager at Treatt, a trusted ingredients manufacturer and solutions provider to the global flavour, fragrance and consumer goods markets. She joined Treatt in 2005 following medicinal chemistry research in academia and has gained vast experience in bench to market product development.

Charlotte spearheads the group’s Open Innovation and Innovation Management activities, the global product management of Treatt’s growing Sugar Reduction range and managing the R&D department. Supporting a global sales team, Charlotte is on the frontline when it comes to customer training, knowledge sharing and collaboration. She has presented to some of the world’s biggest beverage brands, educating their internal teams on the cutting edge technology of our industry. She led Treatt’s first ever Innovate UK funded project in partnership with Northumbria University, investigating the early stage feasibility of biotechnological processes to the development of commercially significant flavour molecules. Charlotte’s open innovation work has led Treatt to become active members of the Food and FMCG Open Innovation Forum at the Cambridge University Institute for Manufacturing, working with partners in the food and beverage value stream to share best practice and identify areas for collaboration. Charlotte is passionate about chemistry and flavour and loves broadening her knowledge in these areas, particularly when food and drink is involved. She also enjoys the challenge of muddy obstacle course races. She is well-known and respected across the group as a colleague with extensive knowledge and experience, but also a relentlessly positive attitude and a truly creative outlook.