The chef and the flavorist: reflections on the value of sensory expertise

Abstract

Flavor expertise can be found across different disciplines and practices, spanning from science to industry to gastronomy. Through an ethnographic exploration of sensory expertise, this article brings detail to the question of what makes up flavor expertise and how it is valued, juxtaposing the work of the high-end chef with that of the flavorist—a producer of flavorings for mass-produced foods and beverages. These two worlds of flavor are generally differently valued (i.e., chefs are seen as creative geniuses, while flavorists are considered fraudulent tricksters). However, as the article will contend, these worlds are actually closer than is recognized and share common ground in the development of sensory acuity. As an analytic framework, the concept of acuity understood as keenness of understanding and feeling is used and how acuity-in-action operates in both fields is illustrated. Overall, the article makes a case for studying expertise ethnographically, by suggesting that the traditional approach to sensible skills, with its subjectivist bias and emphasis on physiological traits, is insufficient insofar as it neglects the communal space where flavor becomes an object of concern and appropriation. This space is intersubjectively shared and constituted through experimentation, communication, and collective action.