When #ChefWatson enters the kitchen

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Over the past 26 years of my professional career as a chef, I experienced many incredible things. Apart from cooking in Slovenia, my path and curiosity often led me across the world. I am convinced that cooks need to keep up-to-date with all innovations, which may come from a very unexpected areas. If you are not present all the time, you simply get lost in today’s crazy and connected world. I was always driven by learning something new, therefore I was extremely glad when IBM invited me to cook with #ChefWatson. Cooking with a computer? “Well why not,” I thought. I rolled up my sleeves together with my co-workers at the diVino restaurant.
We gathered quite early, at 6 am, but the curiosity about what the computer had to offer kept us wide awake.

We decided to try a recipe for “sea bass penne” pasta.

Step 1: Before you start cutting and preparing, turn on your computer… Wait, what? We were asking ourselves if this is normal and if it can really make our work easier.

Step 2: Accept everything the computer advises because you will get a great and unique dish – no combination chosen by #ChefWatson is ever the same.

I was wondering, doesn’t this make our job even more complicated? But my doubts were soon proven unnecessary. This is a very interesting app where the user simply inserts the available ingredients and is then taken on a global culinary experience. Asparagus, pepper, tomato, vermouth, etc. “Can one make sea bass penne from this?”, you might wonder. Well, that’s exactly what Watson would suggest. The personal touch is still there; the computer acts as an assistant, while the cook is still the one who puts the icing on the cake – without the human hands and feel there would be no results.
After my first experience in cognitive cooking, I would describe the app as a professional magic box that offers incredible food combinations with just one click. Given the fact that working in a restaurant always requires making fast and innovative decisions, I am certain that such help makes us more innovative and is more than welcome. My colleagues are so impressed with the app that we are working on integrating it in our menus, so the guests can use the app and decide what they would like to eat. I would like to invite everyone to this cognitive culinary trip. I am more than certain that, with the broad spectrum of ideas and dishes a person cannot even imagine, #ChefWatson will bring freshens and incredible pleasure into our meals. Finally, all I can add is “Welcome to our diVino restaurant!” At diVino, each week, one meal is chosen with the help of Watson.
Thinking about going there and tasting what this virtual chef is capable of doing? First, read more and check photo gallery.

PHOTO GALLERY

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What exactly does Watson do? And does coffee really have over 100 useful flavor compounds?

Watson is a true polymath – incredibly gifted when it comes to sense, or pleasure department. One if its hats is being an excellent chef, famous of its outstanding recipe creations.
The cognitive system searches for patterns in existing recipes and combines them with an extensive scientific knowledge behind food pairings to come up with ideas for unexpected combinations. For example, a braise always requires an initial sear and low-and-slow cooking with liquid. Watson stored that information, and added its knowledge of the chemical compounds that would make good ingredient pairings to inspire braises with brand-new flavors.
Interestingly, Watson’s technical capabilities also reveal novelties about compounds and ingredients we are using on an everyday basis. For instance, some of Chef Watson’s most recommended ingredients are coffee, tea, and beer because of their versatility. Apparently, coffee has over 100 useful flavor compounds.
What is more, Chef Watson has already helped discover a few close ingredients that work better together that perhaps we wouldn’t instinctively think of – apples for example had more in common with aromatic compounds from olive oil than butter, for instance.

Try it – LINK

VIDEO – PLANET TV