Abstract
This study aimed to elucidate the characteristics of cooking operations and procedures through a comparative analysis of the cooking behaviour of novices and experts. Participants were asked to cook a combination of two dishes twice: ginger-fried pork and boiled spinach in Japanese broth. We then examined the change between the first and second cooking operations.
Significant differences were observed between novices and experts in the following parameters: total cooking time, recipe reading time, frequency of reference to the recipe, total distance walked, cabbage cutting time, thickness of sliced cabbage, time to boil spinach, and softness of cooked spinach.
On comparing the cooking procedures of novices and experts, it was observed that the novices followed the procedures outlined in the recipe. The experts, however, were able to perform the procedures more efficiently. The experts were able to perform time-consuming operations first. The novices' skill levels began to approach those of the experts the second time around. In other words, in terms of cooking procedure, it was shown that self-cooking has a positive learning effect even when performed only once.
