Making sustainable foods (such as jellyfish) delicious

Given global concerns over the depleting resources of our seas and oceans, and the increasing lack of sustainable seafood options, jellyfish are emerging as a potential future food. Jellyfish currently represent a sustainable food resource, one whose availability will likely increase with global warming. While jellyfish are a popular delicacy in many parts of Asia, it is currently an unfamiliar food to the majority of Western diners. In this paper, we show how multisensory experience design can be used to introduce diners to this highly-textured, if essentially flavourless, source of food. Created by chef Jozef Youssef, and served at Kitchen Theory's Gastrophysics Chefs Table, the jellyfish dish is placed on a table that is projection mapped with an underwater scene, accompanied by a bespoke, crossmodally-congruent soundscape delivered to diners wearing headphones. The response from diners to this unusual food has so far been uniformly positive.