The 3-D printing game involves way more than fabricating those creepy little figurines of people. It’s changing up the world of high-end dining, too.

According to the BBC, 3-D printing has made its way into the fine-dining world changing the way chefs work with food. Chefs are using 3-D printing to create precise, detailed foods that are too difficult to produce by hand.

The detailing is due in part to Natural Machine’s Foodini, a 3-D printer that “manages the difficult and time-consuming parts of food preparation that often discourage people from creating homemade food,” according to its website. As the BBC notes, 3-D printing is helping chefs create customized dishes from foods ranging from mashed potatoes to chocolate. It even has internet capabilities which means users can upload designs from the web and have the designs show up on their plate. Mateo Blanch, who utilizes 3-D printing in his dishes, tells the International Business Times, "It has changed the way I work with food… I am capable of a level of precision that would never have been possible before."

Paco Perez, a Michelin-starred chef who also uses 3-D printing in his cooking, tells BBC, “It’s very interesting what today’s technology is contributing to gastronomy. Creativity is shaped by what technology can do.”

Although, these printers do not cook the food. Instead, the printer can be used as an aid in the kitchen for tasks like keeping chocolate at melting point. Although, it’s just a matter of time before the printers can actually cook. Welcome to the future.

[via BBC] 

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