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What underestimated potential does the cultural technique of cooking hold? Can preparing food have therapeutic effects?

Illustration of three people preparing food in a kitchen. In the lower left, one person adds vegetables into a large steaming pot. At a white, irregularly shaped counter, a seated person kneads yellow dough while another stands over a larger mound of dough. Shelves above hold jars, bottles and potted plants.
Illustration: Anna Rosinke, Maciej Chmara

Whether it's sausage, kebabs, hamburgers or the Veggie Day – food has long since become a political act and helps to shape identity. But while the food itself is the subject of intense debate, how it is that the preparation of it is often overlooked. The kitchen at home has replaced the car as a status symbol, cooking programmes and cookbooks have been enjoying a renaissance for years, and since the COVID lockdowns, almost everyone has tried to bake a sourdough bread.

The Research Group is dedicated to a cultural technique whose decline has been predicted since the second half of the 19th century – and which nevertheless continues to assert itself, despite TV dinners, Thermomix and delivery services.

The increasing digitalisation of our lives is accompanied by a shift in sensory imbalance and stress: visual and auditory overstimulation accompanied by an impoverishment of tactile and olfactory perception in particular. At the same time, a loss of fine motor skills can be observed. Cooking, baking and fermenting counteract this development as multisensory practices. They integrate all sensory modalities, train fine motor skills and coordination, promote mindfulness and thus can have therapeutic effects.

In practice-oriented, interdisciplinary formats, the Research Group examines the topic from psychosomatic, microbial, social and historical perspectives. The aim is to develop healthy and ecologically sustainable cooking and nutrition concepts.

A round, crusty loaf of bread sits on a white tabletop. Two large handheld microphones with black foam windscreens are positioned on either side of the loaf, their cables trailing off the table. A small lavalier microphone is clipped to the top center of the bread, its thin cable extending outward.
Photo: Ch.Ro, Markus Zahradnik

2026

The physics of sourdough – An interdisciplinary expedition through dough, time and particles

Science is increasingly confronted with a loss of trust and communication barriers. This project exemplifies how complex scientific concepts can be conveyed through everyday experiences. The combination of experimental physics and bread baking creates a low-threshold approach to fundamental scientific principles without compromising scientific rigour.

Instead of presenting abstract theories in isolation, thermodynamic processes, microbiological systems and quantum mechanical principles are placed in a tangible, sensory context. This form of embodied science education has the potential to inspire new target groups to take an interest in scientific questions.

From a research perspective, the project addresses current issues in complexity research and systems biology. The fermentation processes in sourdough represent an ideal model system for emergent phenomena, the understanding of which is relevant far beyond food science. Science, innovative and artistic research approaches also arise from the creative intertwining of different domains of knowledge.

The project "The Physics of Sourdough – An Interdisciplinary Expedition through Dough, Time and Particles" is funded by the Bodo-von-Borries-Foundation.

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