Cooking and Math seem unrelated. Indeed, we don’t see chefs solving equations or mathematicians cooking pasta. However, a computational thinking technique called Critical Path Method (CPM) tells us a different story. 

CPM is defined as a “technique where you identify tasks that are necessary for project completion and determine scheduling flexibilities”. In short, CPM is an algorithm that schedules tasks in an ideal, most efficient way. CPM is used in project management that includes interdependent tasks, or tasks that can be started once a certain task is completed. For instance, when building a three-story house, the roof can’t be built before the first, second, and third floors are built. Analyzing requirements for each task to arrange the tasks in the most efficient order is the main purpose of CPM.

Although CPM is prevalent in construction, engineering, or factory management, I would like to shed some light on cooking. Similar to other tasks, cooking is composed of various interdependent tasks, which can be completed with only a limited amount of equipment. For beginners, such characteristics make cooking very challenging, but these are also the best conditions for CPM to be used.

CPM first finds the critical path, or the longest array of interdependent tasks, and places the first task of the critical path on the first entry of the priority list. The next step is to find the critical path in the remaining tasks and place the first task of that critical path on the second entry of the priority list. By continuing this process, we can get the full priority list, which we use to schedule events. 

CPM works under a simple logic, but when there are more factors like limitations in cooking equipment or preference in which part of the dish to be cooked when (we want the steak to be cooked at the last so that it doesn’t cool down before being served), the algorithm becomes much more sophisticated.

Even cooking, which greatly depends on human instinct, can be precisely planned through math. I am telling you: look around, and you will always find math. 

김강민 강남포스트 학생기자  webmaster@ignnews.kr

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