Recipe databases

The recipe database for the compulsory task and the menu challenge (.zip file 470 K, syntax corrected at Dec 2, 2008!) contains 1,489 recipes in xml format.

The recipe database for the adaptation challenge (updated at April 3! .zip file 27 K) contains 108 pasta recipes.
A sample recipe for the adaptation challenge is:

<RECIPE>
<TI>"Blue" Fettuccine</TI>
<IN>4 oz Danish blue cheese or 8 oz. Danish blue Castello cheese, chilled</IN>
<IN>1/4 c Marinated, dried tomatoes</IN>
<IN>8 oz Green fettuccine or spinach egg noodles</IN>
<IN>2 tb Minced shallots</IN>
<IN>1 Garlic clove, minced</IN>
<IN>2 tb Dry white wine</IN>
<IN>1 1/2 ts Finely chopped fresh basil, or 1/2 tsp. dried basil</IN>
<IN>1/4 c Chopped fresh parsley</IN>
<PR>
<STEP>On waxed paper, divide cheese into 10 - 12 pieces; set aside.</STEP>
<STEP>Drain oil from marinated tomatoes, reserving 1 tablespoon.</STEP>
<STEP>Cut tomatoes into thin strips and reserve.</STEP>
<STEP>Prepare fettuccine according to package directions until al dente; drain and return to pot.</STEP>
<STEP>Meanwhile, in a small skillet over medium heat, heat reserved oil; add shallots and garlic. Saute until shallots are limp but not brown .</STEP>
<STEP>Add wine, basil and reserved tomatoes. Heat through and keep hot.</STEP>
<STEP>Add mixture to pasta; toss.</STEP>
<STEP>Add cheese and parsley; toss again to melt cheese.</STEP>
<STEP>Serve immediately on heated plates.</STEP>
</PR>
</RECIPE>

Exercise queries

The exercise queries define in an example-based manner the area of competence the developed software are supposed to cover. Hence we do not specify a formal query language, but we restrict the items that will occur in the query. These items are:

ingredients to be included or avoided, restricted to those occurring in the recipes in the database
type of ingredients, such as meat, fish, fowl, pasta, vegetables, fruits, nuts, alcohol
dietary practices, restricted to the following (please use the given seasonal food calendar and the diet recommendations): Cholesterol diet, Gout diet, Seasonal food
type of meal (for the compulsory task and the menu challenge only), such as starter, salad, soup, ice-cream, cake, sauce, main course, pizza, casserole, risotto, dessert, pancake, three-course menu
type of cuisine (for the compulsory task and the menu challenge only), such as Italian, Asian, Mediterranean, ...

Queries will be described in free text but can be transformed manually to an arbitrary input format (structural/formula-based, conversational, text-based) to be processed by the software. The results produced by the software while answering the queries can be either a single or up to five recipes including a note which original recipes from the recipe base have been used for the creation of the result. Additional recipe bases might be used for the generation of background knowledge on similarity and adaptation. This has to be indicated.
The participants of the cooking contest should be aware that their software will be evaluated against the subsequent queries as well as against the competition queries, which are similar to the exercise queries and of the same focus. The competition queries will be kept confidential until the contest. The overall competition is structured into a main compulsory task and two additional challenge tasks.

The Compulsory Task involves answering queries that require the selection and possibly modification of a recipe for a single dish.
The five exercise queries are:

Q1:	Cook an Asian soup with leek. (Main focus: type of meal, type of cuisine)
Q2:	I would like to have a salad with celery. Please consider that I follow a gout diet. (Main focus: dietary practice)
Q3:	Prepare a low-cholesterol dessert with strawberries and avoid citrus fruits. (Main focus: dietary practice)
Q4:	Cook a risotto with carrots. (Main focus: similarity / modification of recipes)
Q5:	I would like to cook a pear pancake. (Main focus: similarity / modification of recipes)

Some of these queries can be answered based on the given database of recipes through a selection without modification and some of the queries can be better answered by means of modification, for feasibility reasons, restricted to the exchange of an ingredient.

The Adaptation Challenge is to answer queries on pasta recipes that require an adaptation of both the list of ingredients and the preparation directions. The exercise query is as follows:

Q6:	I want to have a pasta recipe with dried tomatoes that considers my cholesterol diet.
Q7:	Do you have a gout diet recipe of pasta with celery?
Q8:	Asparagus with pasta would be fine but I neither like chicken nor chicken broth. Please follow the seasonal food calendar for October.

Do not hesitate to use frozen or canned vegetables out of season. The cooking time of frozen vegetables is the same as for fresh vegetables but the pre-processing steps like peeling, washing, chopping have to be omitted. Alternatively, vegetables might be substituted by another sort that is in season, like salsify instead of asparagus. However, this would require an adaptation of cooking time.

The Menu Challenge requires the composition of a three-course menu based on the available recipes. The exercise query is as follows:

Q9:	I do have a filet of beef, carrots, celery, field garlic and cucumber. Potatoes are available, too. For the dessert, we have oranges and mint. A soup would be preferable for the starter.