Methodology

One standard.
No exceptions.

The Sashimi Standard

Every entry in Provenance is evaluated against a single benchmark — named for the dish that most clearly exposes the gap between surface knowledge and real understanding. The Sashimi Standard asks: can you describe where this comes from, how to identify quality, what makes it exceptional, and where the execution moment is? If an entry cannot answer all four, it does not exist in the platform.

Five Pillars of Every Entry
01
Origin
Where the ingredient, technique, or dish comes from — geographically, culturally, and historically.
02
Quality Hierarchy
What separates excellent from adequate — grading systems, seasonal variation, and production methods.
03
Sensory Identification
How to recognise quality in the hand, on the palate, and in the finished dish — without a label.
04
Cross-Cuisine Parallels
How this ingredient or technique maps across traditions — the structural links that reveal deeper culinary logic.
05
Execution Moment
The precise point at which the dish succeeds or fails — the decision or action that a professional must get right.
The Curatorial Rule
"If it cannot be examined, it should not be in the system."
Provenance entries are written to the depth required by professional culinary examination — CCC, WSET, ASI, and equivalent bodies. Entries that cannot meet this threshold are either rebuilt or removed.
Classification System

Provenance uses a multi-axis classification system built around three primary dimensions:

  • Cuisine
    50+ cuisine traditions mapped as nested hierarchies — allowing technique entries to carry both a specific home tradition and a broader culinary family. French → Classical French, Japanese → Kaiseki.
  • Technique
    12,106 entries classified by method type, heat application, and skill level. Linked bidirectionally to recipes, ingredients, and cross-cuisine analogues.
  • Provenance
    Ingredient entries are linked to ORIGIN suppliers (who produce or grow the item) and PROVIDER suppliers (who distribute it regionally). Both links must be verified before an entry is promoted to Canon status.
Beverage Canon

The beverage library follows the same five-pillar standard applied to wine, sake, spirits, coffee, tea, and non-alcoholic beverages. Vintage data is maintained for all 44 regions (2015–2024 coverage for the full set; 2011–2024 for the top 10). Pairing intelligence is classified by pairing type (complement, contrast, bridge, cleanse, elevate) and confidence (classic, established, suggested, adventurous, experimental).

What Doesn't Make It

Provenance does not publish entries that are:

  • Unverified
    Sourcing claims without a confirmed ORIGIN supplier link. Technique entries without cross-cuisine validation from at least two independent traditions.
  • Generic
    Entries that describe a category rather than a specific ingredient, technique, or product. "Mushrooms" is not an entry; "Matsutake from the Cascades, September harvest" is.
  • Redundant
    Duplicate techniques with no meaningful distinction in execution, origin, or cultural significance. One canonical entry with variants, not three separate entries for the same thing.
Ongoing Curation

Provenance is not a snapshot. The canon is actively maintained: vintage data updated annually, supplier status reviewed quarterly, and technique entries revised when primary sources are updated or contradicted. If you find an error — factual, sourcing, or cultural — we want to know.

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