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Concept / Cooking

Cooking

The action of preparing food into a dish

An action that prepares a dish by cutting, mixing, heating, or otherwise working with ingredients.

Actions, Poses & Interactions
Cooking · Person cooking in a quiet kitchen

Person cooking in a quiet kitchen

An unoccupied interior cannot show cooking, so it is replaced with a person at work.

Both languages share the English example images. Japanese prompts are the recorded translations.

A phrase to start with

Shows an action in progress that prepares food using ingredients and utensils.

Appearance and effects

Hands, ingredients, and utensils connect within one task, making food preparation legible.

Visual traits

  • Hands at work
  • Ingredients
  • Cooking utensil

Expected changes

  • Ingredients and utensils are more likely to appear at the hands
  • A work-in-progress step is more likely to read

Five examples

1 — Adult cooking

The fixed dog motif conflicts with the required action, so it is replaced with a person cooking.

an adult cutting ingredients, hands and knife visible

  • adult cooking
Open image ↗
2 — Person cooking

The fixed cat motif conflicts with the required action, so it is replaced with a person cooking.

a person mixing ingredients, hands and bowl visible

  • person cooking
Open image ↗
3 — Young person cooking

The fixed boy motif conflicts with the required action, so it is replaced with a young person cooking.

a young person heating ingredients in a pan, hands and pan visible

  • young person cooking
Open image ↗
4 — Person cooking in a quiet kitchen

An unoccupied interior cannot show cooking, so it is replaced with a person at work.

one person mixing ingredients in a quiet kitchen, hands and bowl visible

  • one person cooking
Open image ↗
5 — Person cooking outdoors

A landscape without a subject cannot show cooking, so it is replaced with a person at work.

one person adding ingredients to a pan outdoors, hands and pan visible

  • one person cooking
Open image ↗

Meaning and scope

Definition

Cooking is an action in progress that uses ingredients and utensils to prepare food for eating. It does not include the occupation of chef, a kitchen style, eating itself, or an image showing only a finished dish.

In more detail

Showing the relation of hands, ingredients, and utensils makes a cooking step such as cutting, mixing, or heating in a pan legible. It does not determine cuisine, hygiene, age, or clothing. It is distinct from merely standing in a kitchen or carrying food.

Includes

  • Actions that prepare food with ingredients
  • Cooking steps that use utensils

Excludes

  • Images of only a finished dish
  • Eating
  • The occupational identity of a chef

What this does not imply

  • A particular dish or country
  • The occupation of chef
  • A kitchen style

Variability

A cutting, mixing, or heating step can be specified separately. Keep hands and utensils in frame.

Usage and adjustments

Usage

  • Show hands and utensils so the step is legible

Distinguish similar expressions

  • Specify cuisine separately

Typical uses

  • Create a scene of a person preparing food
  • Show a hands-on preparation step

Possible failure modes

  • Only a finished dish appears
  • The scene becomes eating
  • Hands or utensils are not visible

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From the same theme

Items linked through explicit membership in the same theme.