The Open Source Kitchen

For the past few years I have been absolutely fascinated with open source technology-which allows for public collaboration on a variety of design, development and distribution aspects related to the access of software source code. The concept of socially applying this process has been of particular interest, and to test viability in our market, we will be starting with the kitchen. This means that all proprietary notions will be ceremoniously chucked out the window. Every recipe we produce will be made publicly available, and yes, this includes our famous Backcountry Pizza.

So at this point I'm sure some of you are asking yourselves "Why would they do this? Are they simply a bunch of idealistic nutters who haven't a clue?" The answer has got to be an unequivocal yes, however that stands far apart from the logic in switching to an open source culinary practice. In reality, there will always be someone to buy our food, plain and simple. The majority of people coming through our doors just don't have the time. However, the honorable souls who still cook their own meals deserve our respect. The least we can do is give them new recipes for healthy, cost effective meals they can enjoy year-round.

To help bring the loop full circle, we introduce the concept of reciprocity. Our hope is that when someone takes a recipe home to try out, they will share the outcomes with us. If they find a new ingredient that really makes the dish, or discover that it cooks better at 475F rather than 450F, we want to know about it. Undoubtedly, things will be creatively chaotic at first, but when we have enough content, we can establish a wiki to streamline the process, and expand the circle beyond our geographical region.