Regarding the skilfull combination of raw materials to “useful” and “beautiful” ends, there is a deeply rooted cultural-historical relationship between the arts of cooking and construction. The interplay and parallels between these two practical arts have not yet found their way into standard considerations of Wechselseitige Erhellung der Künste (“mutual illumination by the arts”) — the title of a study by Oskar Walzel,1 comparing architecture and music, among other things. But there are a number of linking factors that suggest themselves on closer examination, and justify detailed treatment.