Affinity Diagram

Authenticity
1. Authenticity is found in the quality of ingredients and proper
cooking technique

a. How you cook the food is important to pay attention to when cooking
authentic dishes
1. U04 - food tastes differently depending on what they are cooked with
2. U05 cooks eggplant parmesan will make sure to get the right type of
food, right type of mozzarella, and will sometimes make the sauce from
scratch. where do you get the . does the eggplant parmesan taste the
same? why? because i’m not as good of a cook as they are.
3. U04 - I bought utensils in India to cook with, because I don’t think I could
find them here.
4. U08: very interested in ethnic foods because she finds it intriguing to
learn how other ppl put ingredients together to make palatable dishes
b. Authenticity is related to using proper/quality ingredients for a
certain dish
1. U09: Authenticity is related to using the exact ingredients for that dish as
well as the proper cooking techniques.
2. U09: Authentic food is dishes that are cooked with proper ingredients and
using the cooking techniques from that area.
3. U09: Judges food by the freshness of the ingredients and taste of the
dish.
4. U06: “Ingredients are important. What will be in the sandwich will be
different. It’s location based, Spain has amazing types of meats and
cheeses.”
5. U06: The quality of the vegetables that really matters to U06.
6. U10: but one way I would judge it is based on the ingredients
c. I don’t want my food americanized or homogenized
1. U03 - Mahek: dishes should not be cold. They were cold and didn’t taste
good. They were false. Because people don’t know better they pass off
something with a hint of spice and call it Indian. That is not food.
2. U08 “don’t basterdize tradition”
3. “I don’t like this buttered rice crap” - I think that’s a basterdization of Asian
culture
4. U06’s roommate in college dated a guy who lived in china for a number
of years and that was his favorite: “My favorite chinese food place that
has authentic food chinese food that is better. Food is better, better
 quality food and is not typical americanized chinese food. The dishes are
also more various, and the menu is in both languages. We can tailor the
dishes to order to taste. I like the restaurant because the atmosphere
is totally different. Large groups of people sharing food in the big round
table.”
d. It tastes and looks like it could come from that region
1. U10: When I hear "authentic food" I think of food that's true to what it was
originally and wherever it comes from.
2. U09: likes to taste foods as they would be made by the originating area -
and not have any western influences.
3. U07 authenticity means that it tastes and looks like it might in India or
Italy
4. U08: from western Appalachian Maryland. grew up on a farm and meat is
a big deal for her.
e. When I think of cultural food I think of specific dishes from that
region.
1. U08: Cultural food heritage: blue crab, butchering own meat, pork & beef,
salt cured ham, kale, collared greens, beef roast w/ potatoes onions
carrots, stew, chili, homemade noodles.
2. U05 took an authentic cooking class in Italy (class was taught by two
italians. chose foods that are quintessentially italian. pizza, gnocchi,
desserts like truffles, eggplant parmesan, which i still make today. got it
from the open air market.)
3. U04 - there are traditional dishes from every region that tend to stay the
same, but now can find it everywhere in the country
4. U01 knows of a thai sticky rice with jerky dish that she’ll request from
restaurants even if its not on the menu

2. Authenticity can only be judged by people who know

a. If you’ve never had the original, it’s hard to judge authenticity

1. U09: Authenticity is hard to judge this without having eaten food from the
exact area from which the recipe came from. Diannat is somewhat of a
judgement call.
2. U08: it’s a problem if she doesn’t already know what’s authentic, can’t
judge it’s authenticity
3. U10: Its kind of hard to judge if you've never had the original version of
something
4. U07: he doesn’t care much about authenticity unless he actually knows
what’s authentic - so in the case of indian and italian food, which he is
very familiar with, authenticity is important to him
b. I judge authenticity by who makes it and where they are from
1. If U01 is in an asian restaurant and there are all mexican chef’s, she gets
turned off and thinks it won’t be authentic
 2. U05 defines authenticity as being how the food is being marketed and
who is making it (for example, if someone is selling a deep dish pizza
from chicago, and there is zero connection to chicago, and the person
who is working there is a kid from ann arbor).
3. U03 - Shalimar (restaraunt): has a good chef but doesn’t have a large
selection, what they do have is simple and nice.
c. I rely on opinions I trust for authenticity
1. U04 - I’ll ask people whose opinion I can trust about authenticity in other
cuisines
2. U03 - In terms of authenticity in other cuisines, I don’t really know. I might
ask my friends about it.
3. U06 believes word of mouth is the best way to find authentic/ethnic
restaurants: “if you advertise your restaurant, you suck.”
4. U09: U09 usually asks her neighbors about the best ethnic food who are
international
d. I rely on word of mouth to find ethnic food stores
1. U07: I primarily get food from foods of india, when he moved to AA he
knew some indian friends who were already here and they told him to go
to foods of india, he also used to live close to foods of india (even tho now
he doesn’t)
2. U02 gets her ingredients from a chinese market, upon arriving she quickly
found other chinese students who told her where she could shop
3. U01 relied on word-of-mouth to find ethnic groceries
4. U09: U09 typically ask around for the best ethnic food stores as the
quality.
5. U03 - I also find ethnic food stores by asking friends and friends of friends
6. U03 - There is a sizable community of Indians in the US. There is never
an Indian too far away.
7. When looking for baking ingredients, U06 will go to places based on
quantity. U06 heard about a latin ethnic store on packard by word of
mouth, NOT from searching the internet.
e. I can judge authenticity based on my personal knowledge of what is
authentic to my hometown
1. U04 - Authenticity in Indian food matters a lot. It is authentic when it
tastes pleasing
2. U02: if it tastes authentic, it’s authentic
3. U06 associates good food with the food she had growing up (“so when i
go to restaurants, ask how much of this reminds me of when i was kid”).
4. U04 - On Authenticity: in comparision to what you might eat at a
restuarant or home in india, flavor or taste that is similar
5. U02 gets her sense of authenticity from her experiences in the many
restaurants of Shanghai
6. U01 is disenchanted with Thai restaurants in places other than where
she’s from
7. U08: authenticity is important when she knows what’s authentic
 8. U01: is particular about how Thai and other Asian foods taste
9. U05 can judge authenticity is based on his personal knowledge of what is
authentic to his hometown (ex: when i lived in france, there was a pizza
called a kansas, it was a pizza with ham, and corn, and pickles. why did
they associate it with kansas.)
3. Being aware of authenticity through rules and traditions can
enhance the eating experience
a. Authenticity means there are certain rules and traditions around the
proper way to eat your food
1. U03 - Authentic food is diverse, well balanced, with heterogenity. Perhaps
8 courses, salad, and ends in desert
2. U08: learning these rules (cultural authenticity) thus gives her a
glimpse into these people and expands her horizons and broadens her
perspective
3. U08: Authenticity means that there are unknown rules and she wants to
know those rules because there might be a reasons for those rules that
goes deep and far back in the culture
4. U04 - In some places you wouldn’t mix certain kinds of foods. There is a
specific order in which things are eaten. It depends on the culture of the
region, family
b. I have suggestions to enhance the eating experience of this cuisine
1. U08: blue nile is a nice experience bc wait staff takes time to instruct how
you would eat the food in ethiopia
2. U04 - At a buffet, tell diners the pairings (sauce and food), since normal
people wouldn’t know the pairings
3. U08: when eating out/new food she wants instructions for how to eat
it “properly”/authentically
4. U04 - indian restaurants are best for buffets if you don’t know what you
prefer for a dish
5. U04 - Leave the forks and spoons for Indian food. Use your hands.
6. U08: doesn’t like when tradition and culture is hidden or not conveyed for
trivial reasons, wants this to shine through, wants to learn (when eating in
a restaurant, for instance)

Food preferences
1. I like variety (cuisines)

a. I like to cook and eat different types of cuisines like Indian,

vegetarian, etc.
1. U09: U09 likes to cook pretty much everything.
2. U06 is always open to trying new recipes from other cuisines.
3. U06 likes to try different things, lately she’s been getting into Indian. “I
obviously like curry dishes.”
 4. U08: ethnic foods were very influential in helping her to broaden her
horizons and teach her different ways of eating a veg diet
b. I like to eat a variety of cuisines
1. U04 - I prefer to eat indian cuisine over others but I have some favorites
in other cuisines
2. U10: I would say my favorite kind of cuisine is Thai food. But on a regular
basis, I eat a mix of American, Mexican, Indian, and Asian food.
3. U07: likes to eat indian/north indian cuisine - predominantly consists of
dal, subzi (some cooked vegetable), chappati (flat unleavened bread),
rice also likes some italian food, lived in italy for studies for a period
4. U04 - There is a wide variety of food I like.
5. U08: vegetarian since 14 (13 years) - indian cuisine (dal subzi rice roti) -
other ethnic cuisines - raw fresh simple salads and other similar dishes
6. U03 - American is not diverse enough for me. you can finish all the
varieties america has to offer in one week, go back to the same thing
again
c. I have an interest in learning about other cuisines because it’s fun
and broadens my horizons
1. U09: would learn about as many cuisines as possible
2. U10: has an interest in learning about other cuisines
3. U07: interested in cooking other cuisines? yes, in particular liked learning
about different types of cuisines, in particular is very interested in learning
how to cook different types of meats
4. U01 wants to learn to cook more things, thinks it would be fun
5. U08: wants to broaden her horizons, wants to learn new things that she
can incorporate into her daily diet -- the novelty of the new experience is
really important and powerful to her
6. U03 - I’d be interested in learning thai, vietnamese, mediteranean food,
middle eastern, a little bit of chinese, because I like to cook
7. U03 - I’d like to learn thai, vietnamese, etc. because it is slightly closer to
my culture and I like the taste
8. U09: U09 would love learn more about many cuisines icluding Indian,
Thai, and Italian.
9. U10: U10 is interested in learning more about Thai, Vietnamese, Korean.
Anything Asian.
2. Taste matters (savory)
a. When trying new cuisines, taste is more important
1. U04 - In other cuisines, I’m looking for something that appeals to my
taste/palette
2. U07 in the case of trying a new cuisine, he said authenticity is less
important than good flavors
b. Taste matters to me more than authenticity
1. U01 says she doesn’t care about authenticity she just wants things to
taste good
2. U08: but there are other cases where authentic dishes don’t suite her
 palette, she doesn’t like them, in which case she likes to make fusion type
dishes that taste good to her (remix)
3. Overarching food preferences (across cuisines)
a. I only eat vegetarian
1. U03 - I like anything that’s vegetarian
2. U10: I like to eat all kinds of food! My only restriction is that the food is
vegetarian.
3. U07 - they’re suspicious of a lot of types of food (thai, chinese) because
they think they are using ingredients to make those foods that are made
from meat (and thus aren’t totally veg).
b. I have general preferences that apply across cuisines
1. U03 - I like to eat food that’s savory, juicy, not too spicy, etc.
2. U10: In general, I like to eat relatively healthy. I eat a lot of veggie stir
fries etc...
3. U04 - You can guide people to eat by: starting veg to non, meat/fish, red/
white meat, work down to something like to try another limiting factor.

Motivations for cooking

1. Cooking is a spiritual activity

a. I like to cook because it is relaxing and a good way to destress. It is a

form of yoga.
1. U09: U09 finds cooking to be a great way to relax and unwind.
2. U03 - Cooking de-stresses me.
3. U03 - cooking is a form of yoga. focusing your attn to one particular task
4. U09: U09 enjoys having friends over so cooking is not only relaxing but a
great way to spend quality time with friends and family.
b. Cooking for and sharing food is a spiritual activity. Eating is
essential for a healthy mind and body.
1. U03 - “Everthing starts with what you eat”
2. U03 - people you are cooking for will be happy and in a peaceful state of
mind
3. U08 - eating food and cooking for others is/can be such a spiritual,
connected, and profound experience
4. U03 - The essence of indian cooking is in giving, nourish, happiness
and there is lot of hindu ancient cooking science in how foods play an
important role in how we think, and why you should/should not eat certain
things
2. Cooking is a creative challenge
a. I like recipes but I enjoy changing them to “make it my own”
1. U10: I have a tiramisu recipe that I've "made my own" by combining
things from a couple different recipes.
 2. U06 follows recipes depending on whether she is baking or
cooking. “Baking is important to follow recipes exactly. But for cooking,
its to taste. Kind of making your own.”
3. U08 - interesting to think of the parallels btwn recipe sharing, authenticity,
and remix culture -- remix culture is all about taking existing and altering it
a bit, and in the act of making it your own
4. U05 follows recipes and will find different recipes and compare and see
what they do differently.
5. U01 enjoys mixing things together that normally wouldn’t be mixed
6. U08 - remixing recipes alters who you are (as food communicates
your culture) and in the act of sharing this food you are representing/
communicating yourself in a remixed fashion
b. I enjoy the creativity, challenge, freedom, and variety of making new
food and trying new techniques
1. U04 - I make my own dishes all the time. I’ve never produced exactly the
same dish!
2. U02 doesn’t use measuring cups, cooks by look and taste
3. U09: enjoys the creativity and the challenges of trying new food and
techniques
4. U03 - Talks a lot about the chemistry and science of experimenting with
food.
5. U03 - I have 7 patented ways to cook potatoes!
6. U03 - I don’t have to repeat a dish for a month, there are so many things
you can do with it.
7. U09: U09 often changes how to cook dishes. This is typically due to
being more comfortable with cooking the dish and becoming more
experienced with making it successfully.
c. Cooking for my friends is a way for me to impress my friends
1. U02 gets bored cooking for just herself, doesn’t put in the effort
2. U02 likes to show off for friends when she has them over, prove she’s a
good chef
3. Recipes are important for being exact
a. I enjoy following recipes exactly because I like to follow directions
and ...
1. U10: has family recipes that she follows because they're usually tried and
tested baking recipes from my grandma, and when she takes the time to
write them down, she makes sure they're really accurate. Little things can
make a huge difference when baking!
2. U03 - if i am doing something tradiational, follow exactly
3. U01 likes to follow directions, good at it, thus is good with following
recipes
b. Baking is different than cooking, and I like it because it’s more
important to follow the recipe, easier to do, and my mom was a baker
1. U01 likes baking because it’s easy for her to do (combats boredom)
2. U06 likes to bake souffles and potloafs. “Baking is great because you
 can make meals, but also desserts.”
3. U01 prefers baking to cooking, can set it and watch a tv show instead of
constant attention
4. U01’s mom is big in to baking, which may account for U01’s affinity for
baking
5. U06 likes to cook, but loves to bake.
6. U01 differentiates cooks and bakers, she’s good at following directions,
thus is not a good cook bc they are good at improvising
7. U06 “with baking it is important to follow recipes exactly”
c. When I make food I often alter the recipe based on what ingredients I
have on hand.
1. U07: when cooking he will sometimes make alterations to recipes and
make new concoctions based on what ingredients he has available/left in
the house
2. U04 - I try to reproduce stuff based on the ingredients I have on hand.
3. U10: At the beginning I would look at recipes and try to follow them
exactly, and would end up buying a bunch of new ingredients. After
awhile, I figured out which spices/ingredients I liked, where to buy them,
and now just keep them on hand and combine them anyway I like.
4. U07 I change a lot of dishes to accommodate the ingredients I have on
hand.
4. I cook out of practicality
a. I like to cook primarily to eat and survive and also to feed others who
depend on me. It also saves me money.
1. U03 - I like to cook because i like it and i have to eat...
2. U07: cooks primarily for subsistence, to feed himself and his roommates
he used to live in an apartment with 3 people and he was the best cook
so he would cook most of the time
3. U07: likes to cook. he enjoys it but admittedly does it primarily for survival
4. U05 cooks to eat and it’s often cheaper to cook
b. The reason I cook is to eat food that tastes good to me.
1. U07: he likes to eat good tasting food, so is willing to put effort into
cooking
2. U04 - I like creating something that tastes good
3. U09: There are many things that U09 has made her own just by making a
dish more suited to my tastes.
4. U04 - If I try something and like it I’ll try cooking it (inspiration for cooking
something)
5. U01 learned to cook out of necessity, got tired of eating premade frozen
foods
6. U05 Also he likes having more control over what he is eating

Barriers to cooking and eating food

1. There’s limited time for cooking

a. I don’t have a lot of time for cooking, but when I do I make

quick easy food. If I did have more time, I would cook more.
1. U04 - Some days I cook more than others. It depends on how much time I
have.
2. U05 is interested in learning about new foods and learning how to cook
new foods, but its a time issue. i don’t do it as often as i would like.
3. U05 would not go out of his way to find ingredients for recipes that would
take a lot of time to make.
4. U05 - Because I like food that is fast.
5. U10 - I look for recipes that don’t take too long to cook.
6. U10 - I like to cook pretty much anything. I look for recipes with healthy
and short ingredient lists
7. U05 - is not interested in learning more about other cuisines
b. I wouldn’t participate in a meetup for cooking with random
people because I don’t know them and because I don’t have time.
1. U10: I’m not sure that I would do a meetup with randoms, that'd be kind of
weird.
2. U05 wouldn’t be interested in doing a meetup about indian cuisine. He
might be if it were integrated with other networks like school, or facebook.
“If there was a group of indian students who said, hey, would you want
to learn how to cook indian food this week, and next week you can teach
us how to cook hot dogs? I would say yes. But they can’t be strangers.
They would have to be people I know.“
3. U04 - I don’t have the time for a meetup to learn to cook.
4. U08: she says she probably wouldn’t host and most likely wouldn’t
attend a food-based gathering event (may be exceptions to that)
5. U03 - i have enough people who i have to meet, want to meet, whom i
haven’t met in a little while. It’s easier to work with my small groups of
friends instead of meeting up with strangers
6. U02 wouldn’t be interested in meeting new people and cooking/learning
from them
c. I used to watch cooking shows on TV, but I don’t now because I
don’t have cable and I don’t have time.
1. U03 - I used to watch cooking shows in India, but not now. Not enough
time.
2. U05 doesn’t watch the food network or any other food shows b/c he
doesn’t have a t.v.
3. U04 - I used to watch food shows, but no time now.
4. U06 - “If I had cable I would watch food network.”
2. Online is a last resort
a. I get recipes online from food websites or by searching if I can’t find
them elsewhere
 1. "I looked up Korean spinach online, bought the stuff and made it"
2. U05 would use the internet, google coconut curry. or go to lifehacker.com
to go about learning new recipes.
3. U10 - I get my recipes from food websites
4. U10: If I didn’t know the name of the recipe I was searching, I would
search for the type of cuisine its from, or the main ingredients it contains.
5. U09: U09 usually search the internet to find a recipe she doesn’t know the
name of.
6. U01’s mom however, has sometimes told her that she has even just
looked up recipes online to cook “traditional” foods
7. U01 often asks her mom how to cook things, but usually ends up sifting
and searching thru recipes online
b. I rely on Google search and/or Yelp to find ethnic food stores
1. U03 - To find ethnic food stores, I google it, visit a few and check out what
they have
2. U07: if he doesn’t know anyone in the area already, google searches for
ethnic food stores
3. U10: U10 finds ethnic food stores by talking to people and websites like
Yelp.
c. Our family’s recipes are undocumented
1. U09: U09 doesn't have many family recipes documented as my Mom
does a lot of the cooking from memory.
2. U09: U09 does have some but most reside in the head of my Mother.
3. Lack of social understanding
a. As an Indian man, I don’t share that I cook
1. U07: cooking is not to be a public thing just because they would feel
emasculated even if he was interested in a cooking class (learning to
cook meat in this instance) he wouldn’t go to the extent of going to the
class, unless a bunch of friends were already going (social attendance)
2. U07: says indian men are squeamish about the idea of sharing recipes,
attending a cooking class, or even cooking for others (particularly women)
because cooking is kind of a girly thing for them.
b. I’m vegetarian, no one understands me
1. U07: his roommates have difficulties going to restaurants because they
are all vegetarian and they do not know many places that they can get
strongly and well flavored food that is also vegetarian -- they’re suspicious
of a lot of types of food (thai, chinese) because they think they are using
ingredients to make those foods that are made from meat (and thus aren’t
totally veg)
2. U08: she’s faced a lot of intolerance, misunderstanding, verbal abuse,
and lack of community acceptance for being vegetarian
3. U08: throughout her life she’s had challenges being veg, for her family
and where she came from veg is an affront to them, not only do they
not understand it, but it’s almost an insult to a culture who’s livelihood in
many cases depends on the butchering of animals
4. Recipes and videos/TV shows are not instructional
a. Recipes are difficult to follow because there is jargon,
vague instructions, it’s boring, and I trust my own abilities...
1. U01 sometimes gets frustrated with cooking jargon on recipes, doesn’t
know what some terms mean
2. U04 - i do look up recipes online, but find it difficult to follow any recipe
because I trust my abilities.
3. U01 was frustrated with instructions from a friend about a recipe when the
instructions were vague and subjective
4. U02 following recipes is boring, like doing homework
5. U10: Its always really helpful to see a dish being made before cooking it.
It makes the recipe easier to follow.
6. U04 - When I try cooking, it’s my own idea of how to make something
b. Sometimes I watch food shows, but for me they’re purely
entertainment, not for learning.
1. U10: U10 watches the food network, but I don't cook things from the
shows all that often.
2. U04 - I didn’t watch videos to learn, it was for entertainment
3. U09: U09 is addicted to the food network channel and do watch other
food shows.
4. U02 doesn’t like cooking shows, thinks they’re too slow and fake, thinks
young people don’t have patience for them
5. Unable to get proper ingredients
a. Some authentic ingredients are not available in the U.S.
1. U03 - Some things you can never buy in the US, or the quality isn’t the
same
2. I go to Indian and Asian grocery stores for specialty ingredients I can’t get
at the other places.
3. U06 talking about making arepas: “the butter is not the same, the cheese
is what makes it. There will be different ingredients for that dish. I can’t
make it here because there are so many health and sanitary laws that
you couldn’t have those things here. I went to a friend’s haciendos, from a
cow and make the cheese, from family members.”
4. U08 - certain ingredients are not available locally or at all, it would involve
people going in together to make bulk orders of ingredients
b. I get ingredients from a variety of different groceries depending on a
variety of factors for a given circumstance: price, quality, availability,
walking distance, etc.
1. U04 - I get ingredients from Kroger, or by searching around for Indian
food stores.
2. U06 gets her ingredients from meijer, kroeger, trader joes. depending on
what she needs. “If I want nuts, then go to trader joes. Looking for fresh
produce, meijer is great.”
3. U05 shops at food coop and the farmers market because they have
better, fresher and higher quality ingredients.
 4. U05 would shop at the food coop or farmers market for basic ingredients.
5. U03 - I get my ingredients from many indian stores. I also go to the one in
ypsilanti and kroger
6. U10: I go to Meijer and Trader Joe's because they're decently priced and
I can get most of what I want there.
7. U09: primarily get my ingredients at the grocery store which is really for
convenience. Dianna do like to go to farmer's markets as the produce
tends to be of better quality and more fresh, Dianna also shop at various
stores for spices.
8. 18. U05 never goes to ethnic food stores b/c there are none in walking
distance.

Preserving, sharing, and connecting

1. I learn better from personal connections

a. I’m more motivated, enjoy more, and learn better when cooking with
friends, both teaching and learning
1. U03 - I designed an Indian 101 cooking class cuz my friends were always
asking
2. U03 - My friends were always asking me to teach them how to make
Indian food
3. U01 has learned some things from friends, some cooking tips
4. U07: would sometimes learn by asking his female friends how to make
particular dishes that they learned from their mothers
5. U04 - Authenticity isn’t necessary to enjoy food, but learning the process
with someone else adds the experience.
6. U03 - I make friends who know how to cook. that’s how i got interested in
it. I’ll go to restaraunts with my friends.
7. U03 - I could invite over a cute girl to teach me to cook something new
8. U04 - I’d love it if someone helped me explore how to cook some thai
dishes.
b. I get recipes and learn how to make them from my family (mostly
mom)
1. U03 - Before I left India, my mom and grandmother wrote down a lot of
recipes for me
2. U06 gets her recipes from her family cookbook. U06’s family taught her
how to cook. “My older sister is an incredible cook, anytime I have a
question, ask her. The things that are important to keep in mind, she’ll
text me. Those comments are not in her book.”
3. U04 - If I want to learn to make something, I ask mom or someone i know
who knows how to make it. Otherwise I look online
4. U07: his mother taught him how to cook his staple dishes, mainly by
providing him a couple of sheets of paper in which she wrote the main
 recipes/algorithms for how to cook the staple indian dishes she cooks in
his home
c. I learned how to cook at home, mostly from watching and instruction
from my mom.
1. U01 - has some ways of cooking things that comes from her mom
2. U04 - while growing up, my mom would have us finish up the dishes. She
would prepare it to a stage and let us complete it
3. U04 - My aunt follows recipes, but my mom just has it in her head.
(this is about how he learned to cook from his mom - his approach)
4. U04 - I learned to cook from watching how things were made at home?
5. U03 - I learned from my mom and grandmother
6. U09: U09 learned how to cook mostly from her Mom.
7. U04 - I learned to cook just from being in the kitchen and having a
general appreciation of cooking. (mom)
2. Food helps me to connect to cultures besides my own
a. Food helps me connect to people of that culture.
1. U08: on some level she really wants to get closer to the ppl who make
and eat the food she’s eating, wants to connect to them, for this reason
authenticity is really important
2. U08: Inauthenticity in food breaks the connection between the eater and
the maker of the food.
3. U08: she thinks the ways we manipulate foods are wonderfully diverse
and that this excites her -- in this experience she gets a window, a picture
of the ppl who made the food, which is powerful for her
4. U08: what’s the problem with an inauthentic restaurant... instead of a
celebration, enjoyment, and learning of and connecting to another ppl, it’s
just a reflexive celebration of self
5. U01 I’m “american” even though my parents are Thai, Japanese
(+Hawaiian)... “so american with background asianess”
b. I would participate in a design that is more than just sharing recipes
online, but also connects people through and from authenticity, built
in human richness
1. U07: he thinks there is space for an idea about sharing food/recipes/
culture to be implemented but is not sure what form it would take
2. U08: could we design something that instead connected ppl thru these
recipes even if you were cooking and eating alone - connected ppl thru
authenticity, built in human richness
3. U08: the idea that food is connecting ppl even if they’re not present
seems opposite to cooking a recipe found randomly online; it’s this
objective, sort of plain, sort of disconnected experience
4. U01 doesn’t think there would be much interest in people uploading
recipes to a recipe sharing site
5. U08: talked of the idea of “welcome to my table” or “come to my table”
whereby ppl would create videos of themselves making and talking about
eating
 c. Where I grew up diversity is the norm and people are open to trying
cuisines of different cultures
1. U04 - bombay grew from people different parts of the country being there,
esp british times communities from all
2. U03 - india is a diverse country, food from all parts of india which are so
different from each other
3. U09: U09 was multicultural. In Ohio, the major cuisines are American,
Mexican and Eastern European based.
3. I learn from non-personal sources
a. I watch cooking shows and recipe videos and they are useful for
learning how to cook different things
1. U09: U09 particularly enjoys short clips of cooking tips and techniques.
2. U04 - If something requires an important technique, a video is helpful.
3. U03 - I’d watch a video if i had to impress someone or if it was something
important
4. U05 thinks a video of people cooking would help and he would watch
those videos. U05 would watch the video of your teacher cooking that
eggplant parmesan again.
5. U07: makes things on ifood.tv in addition to recipes online
6. U08: she would watch a video of a recipe and would read recipes
7. U07: he has also learned from looking up recipes online and from
watching people
8. U03 - Watches a show about two guys who travel around india and eat
food, travel and give opinions in remote areasof india
b. I would participate in a social networking site, meetup class, post
recipes, write a food review, and help people find ingredients
1. U07: he would want to share this site with his family and they wouldn’t do
the social network thing
2. U03 - I like to write food reviews, just for fun. Someone might find it
useful.
3. U09: U09 would do a meetup of learning how to cook Indian cuisine.
4. U08: events could be open to members of the community who had been
approved somehow -- event holders to decide how many guests they
would take and then the event would be removed once it was full (like
craigslist posting) to address fears, safety
5. U08: she would probably be willing to post information about where/how
to get certain ingredients if she knew the answer
6. U08: she mentioned the idea of some sort of ingredient co-op forum type
thing for ppl helping ppl find rare/ethnic/international ingredients that are
hard to find
7. U08: she probably wouldn’t take the time to put a recipe online because
it’s so time intensive
c. When I search for recipes online, I like some sites more than
others with features like pics, ratings, recommendation systems,
and those of a specific type of cuisine (ie. Chinese, Indian)
 1. U10: For me, pictures are key when it comes to choosing recipes online. I
usually don't bother to try recipes/visit sites that don't have good pictures.
I have a few recipe apps on my iphone, but I've never actually cooked
anything from them.
2. U06 goes to allrecipes.com to learn how to cook. “The recipe is rated.
There are different types of recipes.” If there is a new way to do it, she
trusts the recipes and she trusts the rating system thinks the comments
are helpful.
3. U02 goes to chinese websites to find recipes, she finds good recipes by
finding the ones that have a lot of comments and ratings
4. U03 - Has 2 Indian websites he goes to recipes, inpiration, etc.
d. I have learned and would like to learn how to cook by taking cooking
classes
1. U10: U10 would do a cooking class
2. U09: U09 is interested in Italian but will probably refocus my efforts to
more of the cooking foundation skills.
3. U09: U09 enrolled in cooking classes to learn principles that can be
applied across all cuisines.
e. I learned how to cook step-by-step on my own over time
1. U02 didn’t learn to cook on purpose, I just learned as I went along feeding
myself and whoever I was cooking for
2. U08: the grocery store taught her how to be veg -- it took her many years
to realize and to be availed the info that this is not the only way to do it
(and not even a good way)
4. Personal connections makes eating more enjoyable
a. I generally eat with friends and family
1. U03 - In India I’d eat with my family
2. U03 - generally eats with friends or family
3. U02 - does like cooking for people who she knows and likes
4. U04 - Sometimes I meet with friends for a planned meal with a dish I want
to try
5. U06: “Cooking is a time when food and family get together, its something
you spend time together, a social activity. We come together, and take
on a big dish. You have your end product, and you enjoy each others
company. It’s a social thing.”
b. I think eating is a social activity
1. U07: since coming to AA he has had a few instances where he would
cook for other people/ share his cuisine - in most instances it would be
other indians - in some instances it was americans or other international
students who lived near him - he hasn’t ever really been to anyone else’s
house to share their cuisine
2. U10: I enjoy it. I really like to eat and to feed other people.
3. U04 - in India you almost invariably eat with other people
4. U04 - generally you tend to share food, multiple people share to have a
fuller experience for dinner as opposed to a buffet where everyone gets
 their own stuff.
5. U06 - “Chinese restaurants are great because you can share, family
style.”
c. My roomate(s) and I eat together
1. U03 - I usually eat with my roommate
2. U07: now he lives in a house with 7 people and is no longer the best
cook, as a result he cooks much less in his house one person usually
cooks, but if his roommates and him are in the mood for something
else, a different roommate will sometimes cook instead, in particular by
cooking food from a different region in india, or food of a different cuisine
altogether