GAIA Eats · Product R&D · 2026-05-16

Harissa Mushroom A vegan high-protein vertical · framework pilot

From Jenn's voice brief to 10-artefact research package — 56 food particles decomposed, 7 R&D experiments designed, 12 fusion dishes ranked, taste simulated across 6 personas. The first vertical run of the food-particle semantic framework.

StatusResearch complete

SchemaFOOD-PARTICLE-SEMANTICS v1.0

Particles56 (1g/2g/3g/4g)

Experiments7 + HP variant

Fusion combos12 ranked dishes

Citations23 papers

The 30-second version

Decomposed Jenn's v1 Harissa Mushroom recipe at molecular level. Found 3 combinatorial alphas (glutamate×GMP umami synergy at 30×, psyllium×soy gel-network at 2× hardness, koji×soy peptidoglutaminase lock). Predicted taste: 7.2/10 baseline · up to 9.5 umami with koji preferment. Surfaced 7 R&D experiments (RM 440 total program) and 12 fusion dishes (JP Curry Udon + Malay Nasi Lemak tied at 8.4/10 composite). Added HP variant designs that hit 25-35g protein per 100g while staying vegan.

Decisions awaiting Jenn — Tranche A R&D (RM 105) · Tranche B R&D (RM 285) · HP variant R&D (RM 80) · Onboard panel tasters · Apply framework to next ingredient (eggplant / konjac / tempeh-vindaloo).

The 3 combinatorial alphas (the "secret recipe")

Ingredient pair	Non-linear lift	Mechanism
L-glutamate × 5'-GMP	+0.24	T1R1/T1R3 cooperative binding → 30× perceived umami (Yamaguchi 1967)
Psyllium husk × Soy isolate	+0.22	Interpenetrating arabinoxylan-protein gel — WHC +54%, gel strength ×2, adhesiveness ×6
Koji × Soy isolate	+0.21	Peptidoglutaminase locks free Glu in peptide chain before bitter peptides form

Top fusion launches

Rank	Dish	Composite	Price RM	Persona alpha
1	JP Curry Udon × Harissa Mushroom	8.4	18-22	Sara (urban Gen-Z) + James (gym banker)
1	Malay Nasi Lemak × Tempeh Variant	8.4	16-20	Auntie Wong + Hafiz (halal-strict fit)
3	KR Bibimbap × Quinoa Puff Variant	8.3	22-28	Gen-Z TikTok magnet
4	Maghrebi Couscous Tagine	8.2	22-28	Adult dinner, authenticity claim

The artefact package

Click any card to view the document inline. All artefacts in raw markdown — click "view raw" link in viewer to download.

★ START HERE

Executive Brief

1-page owner summary. TL;DR + decisions awaiting greenlight + costs.

99 lines · 7 KB

00 · INPUT

Pilot Input Record

Jenn's brain-dump captured — current recipe, R&D candidates, constraints.

108 lines · 6 KB

01 · SCIENCE

Chemistry Decomposition

Every ingredient → molecular level. 8 mechanism cards (M1-M8). 23 peer-reviewed citations.

173 lines · 15 KB

02 · PARTICLES

Food Particles

56 particles across 1g/2g/3g/4g tiers. F1-F8 archetype map. 7 combinatorial alphas.

168 lines · 13 KB

03 · SENSORY

Taste Simulation

9-attribute predicted sensory profile. v1 + 6 variant deltas + 6 persona reactions.

232 lines · 15 KB

04 · R&D

R&D Experiment Plan

7 experiment cards · hypothesis × mechanism × kill criteria · sourcing table.

375 lines · 17 KB

05 · MENU

Fusion Combo Map

12 mix-and-match dishes ranked across 4 axes. Top-3 ship recommendations.

410 lines · 19 KB

06 · CONVERGENCE

World Recipe Survey

28 recipes across 7 cuisines. 8 universal techniques. Borrowable upgrades.

140 lines · 12 KB

07 · KITCHEN

Kitchen Execution Sheets

Ready-to-fire SOPs for Tricia/kitchen. Includes HM-EXP-008 high-protein variant designs (HP25/HP30/HP35).

~700 lines

JSON · MACHINE-READABLE

particles.json

Downstream-consumable JSON for niche-launch-research + creative-director.brief.

167 lines · 8 KB

Schema upgrade shipped

Born from this pilot — the food-domain semantic framework is now a permanent skill capability.

What	Where
Schema spec	`skills/market-survey-deep-research/references/FOOD-PARTICLE-SEMANTICS.md`
CLI mode	`--vertical food --ingredient X`
Skill bump	v1.3.0 → v1.4.0
Reuse claim	Next ingredient deep-dive: 50-70% faster via citation + framework reuse

Next ingredients in the pipeline

CANDIDATE

Eggplant Katsu

Tests F8 Maillard-crust as primary archetype. Spongy + binder + crust stack.

CANDIDATE

Konjac Rendang

Tests glucomannan sponge (vs chitin) + coconut fat balance.

CANDIDATE

Tempeh Vindaloo

Tests F3 Ferment-bridge as primary structural carrier (not additive).

CANDIDATE

Tofu Bulgogi

Tests F5 salt-cure-marinate as primary. Korean cuisine cross-anchor.