Universcience, an organisation that works to make science accessible to all, presents its latest exhibition, Banquet, currently at The Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie in Paris, France. This new temporary exhibition is a treat for all the senses, exploring the concept of food and feasting through sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound.
Banquet has been developed with the expertise of Raphaël Haumont, a physicist and chemist; Claire Sulmont-Rossé, an INRAE (National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment) research director at the Centre for Taste and Food Sciences; and Nicolas Bricas, nutritional socio-economist, researcher at CIRAD – Montpellier, UMR MoISA and chair of the Unesco World Food Systems.
It was also created with the participation of celebrity chef Thierry Marx, one of the most famous chefs of his generation.
Not only does Banquet celebrate food, but it also coincides with and celebrates a key anniversary for the host country. The exhibition opened to the public on 16 November, marking the date when, eleven years, ago, the “gastronomic meal of the French” was classified as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
Blooloop spoke to Vincent Blech, the exhibition’s curator, to find out how the team brought this engaging and universal topic to life.
Science and gastronomy blend into one
Speaking on the launch of Banquet, Bruno Maquart, chairman of Universcience, said:
“For its first temporary exhibition of the 2021-2022 season, Universcience invites the public to a grand banquet, starting with a journey from the kitchen to the table, where science and gastronomy blend together as one.”
“In order to delight your taste buds as well as your neurons, the Cité des sciences et de l’industrie has designed a unique immersive journey. Banquet…offers the opportunity to savour an unforgettable moment, with its multiple sociological and anthropological, but also chemical and physical aspects: an appetizing opportunity to recall the joy of gathering and eating well together.”
A complete experience
Introducing the concept behind the exhibition, Blech says that Banquet was designed to be a complete experience, where visitors feel they are preparing for a banquet collectively:
“First, they take on the role of a kitchen apprentice, then a taster and then a guest at the banquet. They experience three ways of enjoying gastronomy: creative cooking, relishing and sharing a moment of conviviality. ”
The experience begins in the kitchen. Here visitors move from workstation to workstation and learn to perfect certain gestures, for instance how to whisk, how to use a rolling pin and the correct way to use a mandoline slicer. This section of the exhibition also explores how science can help with creativity, looking at things like pairing aromas in new ways and how to plate the meal.
From here, visitors then proceed to the amuse-bouche section, which is all about scent, sight, hearing and tasting. Taste is about 80% smell, and through this series of multisensory experiences, visitors can discover more about how their senses work when they eat.
Finally, the third part is the banquet, an immersive spectacular that seats 30 people at a time. It features a unique menu invented for the exhibition by Thierry Marx, who specialises in molecular gastronomy, alongside scientist Raphaël Haumont.
A universal subject
This exhibition takes a topic, food and feasting, that has a universal appeal and then applies some scientific exploration.
“When you talk about the idea of a banquet, you talk about good food, good fellows, good feelings,’ says Blech. “It’s a meal of celebration. People wonder why we are looking at the topic of the banquet in a science centre and that triggers some curiosity. People wonder: ‘What is the science behind it?’ And we observed a lot of diversity in the visitors, noticeably young adults in their 20s.”
“In the lockdowns, everyone was stuck at home and many people were cooking a lot. They were not only doing this for the routine, for necessity, but also for the pleasure of cooking. Our partner Cristel, a high-end kitchen tools maker, told us that they had never sold as many tools as during the first lockdown.
“So, people really wanted to cook, at a gastronomic level. But at the same time, they couldn’t share, they couldn’t gather with friends and family. The pandemic really isolated us and now, that need for social bonding is more important than ever.
“The Banquet exhibition also resonates with this idea. It answers to this need we all have to connect. It is part of a way of life to make banquets, to socialise around the table.”
Banquet: a multisensory experience
Banquet is a highly multisensory exhibition, with lots to see, smell and taste.
“I suppose the visitors don’t usually expect such multi-sensory experiences when they come inside our walls,” says Blech. “So, they take it as a gift somehow, as a bonus. They feel like they are getting something really special.
“Part of the challenge in creating this was getting the odours right, as it can often be disappointing. To trigger a good mental representation, and therefore emotion, smells must be perceived as natural, authentic. They must also be coherent with the visual context or the story. Meanwhile, they must not be too trivial, either.”
“The banquet, the final show, is a truly multi-sensory experience. The menu starts with a shellfish dish, which transports you to the seaside, mentally, and the tomato dish must feel fresh and take you outside to a vegetable garden. Then we have the lobster – it must make you salivate as it’s the main dish. The dessert, a liquid croquembouche, has to make you happy, like when a big dessert comes to the table in real life.
“These smells trigger emotions. But to get it right is really complicated. We worked with flavourists and parfumiers from Mane Fils, and both proposed smells for each of the plates. We did some evaluation together with Thierry Marx, Raphaël Haumont and a panel of our own taste testers, to reach some consensus based on their impressions.
“Also, we diffuse these smells which people don’t expect. It comes as a surprise every time, and it works – people smell each plate then wait to do the same for the next plate. It creates an expectation and that is part of the fun.”
Thinking about smell and taste
This innovative smell technology features in the final section of the banquet. But, before that, there are some active multisensory experiences in the amuse-bouche part of the exhibition. The goal is to invite visitors to become aware of their own cognitive mechanisms, in terms of perception.
“The sensory experience is visceral, and it calls to memories,” says Blech. “It’s spontaneous. Concentrating and understanding the science comes in a second time. People, young people especially, react quite quickly to smell and taste and it becomes more of a game. They taste Madeline cookies or chocolates and it’s regressive somehow. It is something that’s familiar and it takes you to your childhood.
“What we are seeing is that people are just naturally connecting over the experience. We see them asking each other: ‘What did you perceive, what did you feel? What was the taste of this colour?’
“Multisensory experiences like this are inclusive. It’s all subjective. Everyone perceives and interprets taste and smell in their own way.”
Getting hands-on with Banquet
Banquet also provides plenty of opportunities to get hands-on, supported by some clever uses of technology. For example, in the kitchen section of the exhibition, there is a chance for visitors to brush up on some of their kitchen prep skills:
“This is about learning the technical artisanal gesture correctly, using a whisk, a rolling pin and a mandoline. These are three stations where the technology is invisible but it’s really smart. It combines audio-visual and multimedia content with tangible objects – it’s what we call hybrid multimedia.
“First, an expert cooking trainer explains the technique to you. You might think you know how to whip cream, but you don’t really! You get their professional advice, then it’s your turn to use a real whisk, a real bowl and practice the movement for one minute.
“What you don’t see is that there are sensors in the bowl and underneath the table. These detect your movement and then reconstruct it on the screen in augmented reality. You see your whisk moving and the cream virtually rising. After one minute, it is quite tiring! You get two results: your technical evaluation and your performance.”
Science and art meet
However, working in the kitchen is not just about the scientific technique. It’s also about creativity.
“When it comes to the plating, in the kitchen section, we worked with a collective of artists called Obvious,” says Blech. “They apply AI algorithms to creative domains. The visitor is asked to choose a colour theme for their plate. They also choose the type of dish, for example, starter, main dish, or dessert.”
“Then, the AI builds a combination of images of plates, which visitors can transform to create their own unique plate. Another AI algorithm gives them an idea of a recipe that can help them make this plate. They can even try it at home and share it with us afterwards.”
A finale worthy of a Banquet
Elsewhere, more innovative technology is used to support the exhibition’s finale, the banquet show.
“There is smell technology that we have developed specifically for this show because this is really an innovative part of the exhibition,” says Blech. “The source itself is unique. We release the smells in a gas state, instead of through microdroplets, which tend to linger.
“This has many advantages. The perception feels very natural and convincing because you inhale free molecules, like any natural smell. This removes all hygiene risks, and it is compatible with face masks. And since the smell vanishes naturally, you can create dynamic scenarios with multiple scents.
“This technique allows the release of the smells with accurate control, in time and quantity. There are 30 seats and 30 smell outlets, which allows us to write a very precise and effective narrative for this multi-sensory experience.
“The challenge of the show was to tell the story without speech and still make this emotional connection. Smells combined with image mapping and surround sound is a powerful, yet subtle medium for composing a synesthetic scenario, able to immerse you in an imaginary banquet. For writing this sensory, speechless scenario, we fully relied on the team of Graphics eMotion.
“The result literally transports you through the phantasmagoria of a menu, finishing with fireworks. The visitors even applaud sometimes!”
Banquet, coming to a location near you
Banquet runs at Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie until 7 August 2022. Once this run is complete, the plan is to tour the exhibition to other science centres and museums.
“The things that you learn in the exhibition are absolutely relevant to any culture,” adds Blech. “How to cook an egg, for example. How to listen to your senses, exploring taste and smell. The very idea of a banquet is universal. All around the world, people celebrate the important times in life with a special meal.
“The exhibition is already translated into English and Spanish. It is accessible to all audiences from the age of nine and above. In addition, it has been designed with our high standards of accessibility throughout.”
Finally, Blech adds:
“This exhibition is better visited on an empty stomach!”
Images kind courtesy of Universcience. Header image © R. P. Ribiere
