Creative cocooking patterns: A pattern language for creative collaborative cooking

This paper will introduce the Creative CoCooking Patterns. This is a pattern language for a creative and collaborative cooking session. CoCooking is a word we have coined for this pattern language with the meaning "cooking together." When people eat today, in most cases there exists a large gap between the person who cooks and the person who eats. Based on Alexander's attempt to create a architectural process which allowed the families to join the architects in building their homes, CoCooking is our proposal as a new way of cooking that would solve many of the problems that today's cooking holds. The Kitchen Captain is a new kind of a professional that is similar to the Architect Builder proposed by alexander, which allows beginners to cook at their own decision but provides necessary help when needed. By recapturing cooking as a fun, social, and a creative process, CoCooking will make cooking a more easy and daily activity for all, become a method for team building and enhancing communication, and also would nurture people's fundamental creativity. The Creative CoCooking Patterns is a pattern language to actualize such a cooking session, and contains 34 patterns on effective cooking techniques, creating a warm atmosphere, and on nurturing creativity in the kitchen. The paper will introduce 6 patterns (Kitchen Captain, Small-Lot Dishwashing, Chat in the Kitchen, Kitchen Lessons, Menu Bind, and Leftover Producer) in full length, and then show the rest of the patterns as patlets.