Cooking together: activity coordination in professional cooking

The analysis focuses on verbal and non verbal modalities professional cooks use to accomplish a joined activity, which is the preparation of a meal. The data are taken from the video recording of two cooks preparing meals in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant. The activity has been recorded with two cameras from two different points of view in order to obtain a more complete vision of the entire activity. The total amount of data corresponds to the preparation of four meals. The cooks are preparing the meal following the orders which are communicated by the waitress. For communicating the orders, the waitress enters the kitchen saying the order aloud and hanging up the written version of the order on the wall. The written order hanging on the wall functions as reference for the cooks’ evaluation of the sequential arrangement of the actions they are accomplishing. The analysis shows how, in the context of a complex and shared activity, the accomplishment of an action can project the following relevant action organizing the activity of all participants. The performance of single actions, for example the action of putting a pot in a specific place or describing aloud what one’s is doing, can function as an organizational device of the whole activity of co-preparing meals.