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Alongside the question “is programming art?”, the artistic status of cooking needs to be examined. Like programming, not all cooking is art. The aesthetic question goes beyond the idea that there is an art to frying an egg. Here the word art merely means basic skill.

The aesthetics of cooking involves the creative process that has led to the invention of new recipes which appeal to the eyes, the tongue and the nose. The great recipes of medieval times arose from a lifestyle where the kitchen became a creative focus. Artistic creativity discovered new taste sensations from untried ingredients especially plants. The consumption of these artworks was an event of a multi-sensual nature. Like all artworks, the eaten artwork ceases to exist after the exhibition, but through the recipe can be reproduced.

Here is a recipe for Davidson's plum cinnamon biscuits, which is intended for the eyes, noses and taste buds of those living in the rainforests of NSW and Queensland where these unique plums grow.

320g wholemeal flour (++)
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
200g butter
100g blanched almonds (or macadamias)
1 nut of butter
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp icing sugar
50g Davidson's plum jam

Mix honey and eggs in the middle of the flour in a bowl. Add cinnamon, butter flakes, ground almonds. Knead to a pastry. Add extra flour if sticky.

Roll out thin and stamp out equal sized circles. Bake at 190°c for 10 minutes on a baking tray (second shelf from the bottom).

Melt butter. Spread a little liquid butter on half of the cookies and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mix.

Spread Davidson's plum jam on the other half of the cookies and place the first cookies on top of them.

Davidson's plum jam is made in the oven at 200°c in a baking dish. The plums are halved, sprinkled with raw sugar and stirred from time to time in the oven, adding more sugar until it tastes right. This may take a couple of hours. Then press through a sieve and bottle it up. This method of baking results in a rich, dark-red jam.