Evaluation of food presentations using picture fuzzy analytical hierarchy process

Preparation of food is one of the basic activities that people perform throughout their lives for pleasure as well as survival. Food can be considered within the framework of gastronomy, which is defined as "the art of quality eating and drinking". There is fierce competition in the food and beverage sector for the privilege of being preferred by customers for products offered. It is vital for restaurants to have menus that are unique and consist of innovative recipes. Creative chefs are at the forefront of creating and presenting these menus. However, scoring and evaluating chefs’ products is a cognitive, multi-perspective, and complicated process. In this study, for the first time in the literature, a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach was used to evaluate gastronomy products. Five food presentations that received full points in the final exam of the Korean Cuisine Practical Course at a gastronomy education institution were evaluated. The evaluation criteria for the students’ food presentations were presentation, creativity of the name, taste, and fusion balance of the product (the combination of different cultures in the product). The Picture Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was used, and the performance ranking of the food presentations, which the judges could not determine by their direct evaluation, was revealed. The study provides an easy-to-implement and fair assessment methodology for both scoring of food presentations in educational institutions and for highly competitive cooking competitions. The developed methodology can be applied to many different evaluations of culinary products.