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Moto’s Chef Homaro Cantu has invented an edible paper on which he prints his menus using organic inks and a Canon printer. OK, that’s a little off the wall, but we’ll believe it. After all, Chicago’s stock as an experimental culinary destination has been on the rise as of late. What makes Cantu’s paper, and many of his other gastronomical creations, different is the fact that he is applying to have them patented. He even goes so far as to print the following legal jargon on his tasty paper: Confidential Property of and © H. Cantu. Patent Pending. No further use or disclosure is permitted without prior approval of H. Cantu.
This is pretty revolutionary stuff for the restaurant scene, at least according to Food & Wine. While Doritos may have a patent for their Cool Ranch recipe, copyrighting a chef’s dish or cooking method simply hasn’t happened in the past. Instead, chefs and restaurants have been more likely to borrow concepts and, with (or without) modifications, add them to their own repertoire. The era of the royalty-free sampling, for both culinary ideas and hip-hop beats, appears to have a foot out the door.
It should be noted that Cantu has some pretty wild inventions that he’s looking to patent. He can use his printer and turn out an apple for crying out loud. He also created a three-inch polymer box that if heated to 350 degrees can retain enough heat to cook a filet of fish. Three inches? Two words: stocking stuffer. Cantu tells F&W that multiple companies and organization have already approached him about his foodie inventions. The argument for patenting, as he sees it, is that the profits he will receive from his creations will keep him in one spot, as opposed to seeking further revenue by building a restaurant empire.
Though these patents may go a long way to protect chefs’ intellectual property, some are concerned that it will create a greater sense of suspicion and paranoia in the industry. Cantu apparently asks his visitors to sign a nondisclosure agreement before entering his kitchen. Didn’t Willy Wonka do the same thing? If things continue this way, Chicagoist may soon be asking some of you for royalties from our Spicy Pumpkin Soup and Brussels Sprouts recipes.
Image via design-engine.com.
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"three-inch polymer box that if heated to 350 degrees can retain enough heat to cook a filet of fish"
Isn't it better to just umm broil the fish to begin with?! I don't get these wacked-out chefs. Food ought to be about eating something good and not about showing off what an incredibly brilliant genius you are.
It seems ridic, yes, but then look here. I can see how Alinea or Moto might want to avoid this type of thing. Imitation is the sincerist form of flattery, but when it is full-on copying, AND the original innovator isn't being compensated....
who, honestly, wants to eat paper for dinner?
Well, you are confusing a couple of different things: copyright and patents. All chefs automatically have a copyright on their recipes when they create them... but you get a copyright on the exact recipe, not the idea. So others can recreate the dish, provided they use their own recipe.
It would be *exceedingly* difficult to patent a recipe. But edible paper is another matter... the question there is, really, what is it worth? Having a patent doesn't mean anything if no one wants to pay you to use it. So what that other restaurants couldn't use his edible paper... were they really clamoring for edible paper before? I doubt it.
Look, it's *way* cool... but it's a gimmick and a fad. It's a form of fashion, and edible paper or heat retaining boxes may be fashionable now, but that doesn't mean they will always be.
More power to him, but I don't think the impact on the culinary world is huge. Unless he continues to innovate, and then *his* impact may be felt.
Yes, wacked out chefs. I read about edible paper before. I think more than one of these folks has done it, so it should be a good fight.
Actually, Dave!, According to US copyright law you cannot copyright a recipe unless it is"accompanied by substantial literary expression in the form of an explanation or directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook," and then only maybe. You're absolutely wrong about chefs being able to copy a dish if they come up with their own recipe -- they don't have to do that at all. Chefs have no copyright protection in the eyes of the law.
And yes, it would be exceedingly difficult to patent a recipe. But what Cantu is doing is patenting a technique or process, which is exactly what patents are meant for and is not all that difficult considering the novel technology involved in his cuisine.
For the record, the post-er above is not the Andrew who wrote the piece. I don't have anywhere near the copyright and patent knowledge of that Andrew.