A cooking apparatus includes a recipe obtaining unit that obtains recipe information for a dish, a preference obtaining unit that obtains preference information for a user, and a recipe modification unit that, based on the obtained preference information, modifies a value of a cooking parameter, which defines a manner of cooking, to provide modified recipe information, the cooking parameter value being included in the obtained recipe information. The preference information is, for example, information indicating taste preference of the user. In that case, the recipe modification unit modifies the cooking parameter value in a direction in which the taste of the dish is more closely fit to the taste preference indicated by the preference information.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A recipe information processing apparatus, comprising: a recipe obtaining unit that obtains recipe information for a dish; a preference obtaining unit that obtains preference information for a user; and a recipe modification unit that, based on the obtained preference information, modifies a value of a cooking parameter, which defines a manner of cooking, to provide modified recipe information, the cooking parameter value being included in the obtained recipe information. 2. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the preference information is information indicating taste preference of the user, and the recipe modification unit modifies the value of the cooking parameter in a direction in which taste of the dish is more closely fit to the taste preference indicated by the preference information. 3. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: a material taste information storage unit that stores material taste information indicating a relationship between the cooking parameter and a taste vector that defines taste; and a parameter conversion unit that, based on the stored material taste information, calculates the value of the cooking parameter that is to be taken when a value of the taste vector is modified to make the taste of the dish more closely fit to the taste preference, wherein the recipe modification unit modifies the value of the cooking parameter into the calculated value. 4. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooking parameter is an amount of a material of the dish, the material taste information is a material taste vector representing taste of the material and intensity of the taste per unit amount of the material, the preference information indicates a taste differential vector representing a difference between a reference taste vector representing the taste of the dish and a target taste vector representing preference taste of the user, and the parameter conversion unit calculates an amount of the material after the modification based on both the amount of the material and the taste differential vector. 5. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooking parameter is an amount of a material of the dish, the preference information indicates a target taste change rate vector representing a rate of change to be applied to the taste of the dish, and the parameter conversion unit sets a value, which is obtained by multiplying the amount of the material by the target taste change rate vector, as an amount of the material after the modification. 6. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the taste vector is defined in terms of a space having a plurality of axes corresponding to respective intensities of different basic tastes. 7. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the dish belongs to one of a plurality of preset dish categories, the target taste vector is linked to one of the plural dish categories, and the parameter conversion unit calculates the amount of the material for each of the dish categories. 8. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the dish categories correspond to clusters that are obtained by grouping a plurality of dish tastes per cluster, and the target taste vector is generated for each of the clusters in accordance with taste evaluation made by the user on a dish having taste that corresponds to a centroid of the relevant cluster. 9. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the preference obtaining unit obtains and accumulates the preference information for each of the plural dish categories. 10. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the cooking parameter corresponds to a cooking step of the dish, the material taste information is information indicating a relationship between change of the cooking step and change of taste, the preference information indicates a taste differential vector representing a difference between a reference taste vector representing the taste of the dish and a target taste vector representing preference taste of the user, and the parameter conversion unit determines the cooking step after the modification based on both the relationship between change of the cooking step and change of taste and the taste differential vector. 11. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the taste vector is defined in terms of a space having a plurality of axes corresponding to respective intensities of different basic tastes. 12. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the dish belongs to one of a plurality of preset dish categories, the target taste vector is linked to one of the plural dish categories, and the parameter conversion unit calculates the amount of the material for each of the dish categories. 13. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the dish categories correspond to clusters that are obtained by grouping a plurality of dish tastes per cluster, and the target taste vector is generated for each of the clusters in accordance with taste evaluation made by the user on a dish having taste that corresponds to a centroid of the relevant cluster. 14. The recipe information processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the preference obtaining unit obtains and accumulates the preference information for each of the plural dish categories. 15. A cooking apparatus comprising: a recipe obtaining unit that obtains recipe information for a dish; a preference obtaining unit that obtains preference information for a user; a recipe modification unit that, based on the obtained preference information, modifies a value of a cooking parameter, which defines a manner of cooking, to provide modified recipe information, the value of the cooking parameter being included in the obtained recipe information; and a cooking support unit that supports the cooking in accordance with the modified recipe information. 16. A recipe information processing method comprising: obtaining recipe information for a dish; obtaining preference information for a user; and based on the obtained preference information, modifying a value of a cooking parameter, which defines a manner of cooking, to provide modified recipe information, the value of the cooking parameter being included in the obtained recipe information.