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What can the world of gastronomy teach us about conducting better science?

Yucai Lin’s biggest takeaway from the course was discovering how similar cooking is to conducting research. “In cooking, we learn the basic properties of each ingredient, combine them to create delicious dishes, and then share these creations with others. Similarly, in research, we gather fundamental knowledge, combine different methods and ideas, and create innovative tools that can improve people's lives!”, explains Yucai Lin, Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering.  

“This was an amazing course. Before joining, my focus was mainly on cooking itself. But after this course, my perspective shifted, I began to see cooking through the lens of open science. It encouraged me to connect science with everyday life. It was not just about food anymore, but also about cultivating a new way of thinking”, says Zixuan Ning, Doctoral Researcer at the Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. “Now, every time I cook, I bring in a scientific mindset. I try to challenge conventional methods and experiment with new ideas. It has become a way for me to train myself in scientific thinking. I believe this habit not only enriches my personal life but also strengthens my research mindset and creativity as a doctoral researcher”. 

Tommi Vasko, Doctoral researcher at the Department of Design in the School of Arts, was surprised how much fun it was to cook with other people online on a video call. “It was really lovely to both cook and discuss the topic of open science together. I was surprised how well this worked out!”. Tommi realized that cooking as a shared social event is something that, at least for them, supports an experimental mindset and creativity in cooking. “I really like to try out new things when I cook for other people. Secondly, I realized how difficult it is to be open and diverge from an idea or vision or process I’ve had myself. Asking for help is important. Also, I noticed that if a recipe is not very detailed and does not have background information about why things are done in a specific way, it’s easy to cut corners and make things the way I’m used to. And lastly, it’s super inspiring to learn from other disciplines' ways and methods of preparing food and approaching cooking”, Tommi continues. 

"Crunchy" dumplings with water chestnuts

Zixuan and her colleaguesmade dumplings—one of the most iconic Chinese dishes. Zixuan tells that the idea was to combine cooking with her cultural background. Collaboration was an essential part of this process, just like in research. “We worked together because the preparation was complex and required joint effort.We wanted to explore and combine our ideas creatively. We thought we were the first to use the secret ingredient of water chestnut in dumplings but later, after the gala we found a few similar recipes online”, explains Zixuan.  

• After some discussion, we decided to add a “secret ingredient” to the filling—an idea inspired by a type of soup. This ingredient had never been used in dumplings before (creativity) –  this is what we thought at the time!
• However, we soon faced a challenge: the secret ingredient wasn’t available in the local stores. After discussing alternatives, we finally found it at a shop further away (problem-solving).
• While cooking, we realized the amount of filling didn’t match the number of wrappers. So, we adapted by turning the extra wrappers into handmade noodles (flexibility).
• For the final dish, we used two cooking techniques: boiling and frying (variety).
• Finally, we presented the dumplings and shared them with others (communication and celebration).

 Recipe: The filling included ground beef, water chestnut, pepper, salt, oyster sauce, and soy sauce, and a pinch of Chinese mixed spice.