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The creative minds of extraordinary pastry chefs: an integrated theory of aesthetic expressions – a portraiture study

Kai-Sean Lee (School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)
Denise Blum (School of Educational Studies, Oklahoma State University, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA)
Li Miao (School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)
Stacy R. Tomas (School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA)

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN: 0959-6119

Article publication date: 7 August 2020

Issue publication date: 7 August 2020

896

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to demystify the creative experiences of an extraordinary group of pastry chefs – The Malaysian World Pastry Team, champions of the 2019 World Pastry Cup. The authors adopted an expressionist theoretical lens informed by two aesthetic philosophers – John Dewey and Wassily Kandinsky.

Design/methodology/approach

A two-year portraiture was conducted – a qualitative methodology that draws features from phenomenology and narrative inquiry, rendering artistically and empirically written “portraits” that reflect themes and patterns of participants’ experiences. In-depth interviews, observations and material artifacts were collected amid a journey alongside nine extraordinary Malaysian pastry chefs.

Findings

Presented in story structures, the authors offer three “portraits” of culinary creativity, each representing a core essence of the creative phenomenon: creative harmony in the form of sensorial and symbolic poetry; imaginative episodes as a hypnotic state of inspiration and incubation; and the creative duality of scientific rationalism and artistic fashion. The authors delineated the intricacies of each theme by presenting them as individual narratives.

Research limitations/implications

The portraits indicated that culinary creativity reflects an organic and emancipating aesthetic experience that is unbounded by formative structures or sequential processes. This provides a novel theoretical view that moves beyond conventional studies’ capitalistic frameworks, and toward the intimate viewpoints of the chef-creators. Specific contributions are discussed.

Originality/value

Through a unique qualitative approach and an aesthetic theoretical framework, this study provided a novel perspective on the culinary creative process. The aesthetic view captures culinary creativity through the eyes of the creator, a viewpoint less considered, yet imperative to the culinary profession.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research project would not have transpired without the help and endless support of Professor Ben K. Goh of Macau University of Science and Technology. Moreover, the authors thank IJCHM’s editorial/reviewing team for their constructive feedback, empathetic reading and fruitful suggestions in improving the final monograph. No contributions are too minor or too small. Thank you.

Citation

Lee, K.-S., Blum, D., Miao, L. and Tomas, S.R. (2020), "The creative minds of extraordinary pastry chefs: an integrated theory of aesthetic expressions – a portraiture study", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 32 No. 9, pp. 3015-3034. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2020-0329

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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