The word cuisinology appears to have first been used in a Service Mark registration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) (serial number 76229223) on March 26, 2001 in a filing by Erdatek, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, for “consulting in the area of food manufacturing and processing”. This registration was abandoned April 8, 2002, after inter-partes decision.
Erdatek had also registered two related Service Marks, Cuisiline, for seasoning blends and spices (USPTO serial Number 76255466, May 11, 2001, abandoned August 17, 2003), and Cuisinique, for processed and semi-processed foods (USPTO serial Number 76572424, January 23, 2004, cancelled April 26, 2013).
India seems to be at the forefront of utilizing the word cuisinology in educational materials. “Marketing Management; Concepts, Cases, Challenges and Trends”, published in 2007, appears to include the first instance of such a usage. In a case study narrative that takes place at an apparently fictional company named TMR Foods, a woman named Ljos takes samples of chapattis to Food Technologist Saravanan. In the discussion regarding some of the samples becoming moldy while others remained edible Saravanan rxplains about the importance of cuisinology:
Saravanan (Food Technologist) continued, ‘All these companies, including TMR Foods, are headed by marketing professionals who are more concerned about positioning, segmentation and pricing. What we need to do is understand food technology, cuisinology [emphasis ours], the difference between fermentation and freezing technology, between shelf stability and the freezer, and work on these elements and invest in them. We are entering an all-new category, RTE [ready to eat} chapattis(). We still have no marketable product, but our marketing thoughts are superseding our manufacturing capability and product-development thoughts. I have met numerous operators in foods in many parts of the world. Small and big ones who are successfully turning out chapattis, naans, kulchas, and many RTE meal replacements. All the food companies in India are headed by marketing professionals while the food technologists have been ‘tokenized’. In the foods business, especially the RTE/RTS (ready-to-serve) categories, cuisinology [emphasis ours] should be king. Not marketing.’” [Govindarajan, M. Marketing Management; Concepts, Cases, Challenges and Trends. Prentice-Hall of India, 2007. ISBN 978-8120332591. page 108.]
As of 2016, among its official publications India’s National Council Of Education And Training (NCERT) uses the word cuisinology in Part I of their “Textbook For Class XII: Human Ecology And Family Sciences”:
“Increasing number of persons travel outside the home daily for education, work, tourism … This requires expertise which can be achieved through appropriate training. With increasing tourism, interest in ethnic foods and cuisinology [emphasis ours], there is demand for qualified persons … The professional clinical nutritionist or dietitian must have: Knowledge of physiological changes in disease conditions, changes in RDAs/nutrient requirements in illness and types of dietary modifications required, traditional and ethnic cuisines, different languages to be able to communicate effectively with patients; Skills in assessing nutritional status of patients using clinical and biochemical criteria, diet planning customised to requirements of individual patients and specific disease conditions, recommending and administering diets to patients, communication for diet counselling, adapting to cultural milieu, food taboos and overcoming fads/myths … In India alone, we have a very wide variety of typical cuisines from Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the South, to the North Eastern states, Orissa and West Bengal in the East to Gujarat and Maharashtra in the West. This has made ‘Cuisinology’ [emphasis ours] an area of interest and provided new professional avenues. Similarly, across the world, there are numerous cuisines e.g. British, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Austrian, Russian, Eastern European, Swiss, Scandinavian, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern, American, Mexican, Caribbean, African. In Asia and S.Asia, besides Indian, we have Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indonesian, among others. In each of these cuisines, the ingredients used and the methods of preparation vary considerably … There are several kinds of menus which are very interesting and challenging, particularly for those who have keen interest in varied cuisines. [Suggested] Career Avenues … Specialists in Cuisinology [emphasis ours]“ [Udipi, Shobha A., etc. Textbook For Class XII: Human Ecology And Family Sciences, Part I. National Council Of Education And Training (NCERT), New Delhi, 2016. ISBN 978-9350077689. p. 55, 63, 87, 94, 98]
The word cuisinology has been used in place of the word glossary in a manner related to the above example. In her piece “Artisnal Food Microbiology” published March 19. 2016, by “Nature Microbiology”, Arielle J. Johnson used the term Cuisinology (capitalized) at the top of a sidebar containing definitions of food-related terminology used throughout the article. Each of the nine terms explained in the sidebar also identify or attempt to identify the country and/or region of origin for the item described, and in some case a very short historical note as well. In this usage, cuisinology is used in place of the word glossary to specify the same function, “an alphabetical list of words relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary” (Oxford Dictionaries), but with cuisinology being more appropriate. For example:
“Koji. Aspergillus oryzae mould inoculated and grown on grains or legumes, traditionally rice, barley or soybeans. Koji is the Japanese name; the process originated in the Neolithic period in China where it was called qu or chhü. Koji is rich in amylases and proteases, which makes it useful as a catalyst for making other fermented products like miso, soy sauce and sake.” [Johnson, Arielle J. Artisnal Food Microbiology. Nature Microbiology. Vol. 1, April 2016. MacMillan Publishing, 2016.]
The word Cuisinology has also been used separately by numerous individuals, including: Megan Currie of Napa, California, Culinary Translator, for her blog Cuisinology in 2016 (www.cuisinology.blog, abandoned in 2017); Dr. Stuart Farrimond BM BS PGCE BmedSci for his book “Cuisinology”, published by Marabout Editions in Belgium, August 11, 2017, EAN 978-2501116749, and published in English as “The Science Of Cooking” by DK, London, UK, September 19, 2017, ISBN 978-1465463692; and others.