Have you ever experimented in the kitchen? Whether that’s creating a banana and peanut butter cake, dabbling in adding new vegetables to a recipe or braving making filo pastry, you will at some point have tried altering or creating new dishes. Possibly unknowingly!
How do the professionals do it? Try, try and try again. Lots of error, experimentation and tasting. Recipe development is a whole sector of the hospitality and catering industry, from those that work in singular restaurants, chains of restaurants, through to those in top-notch award winning kitchens. You could also specialise in health products, working with nutritionists in hospitals and health organisations.
All those products you can buy at the supermarket will have undergone a recipe development process, and generally still continue to do so. Seen those stickers that say *new recipe*? Yup, those food scientists have been busily improving and tasting the recipe to make it more appealing for you. A good recipe can make a brand stand out from others, and renowned developers and tasters are in demand.
Recipe experimentation is not a new thing. For hundreds of years, recipes were passed down verbally between family and friends, until the advent of writing. You could also use the latest scientific and technological innovations to see how that would have an impact on the dishes you create. You’ll need to be creative, organised and with your finger on the pulse of the latest food trends. Don’t forget an excellent sense of taste and smell too!
Chefs can use their extensive experience of how ingredients interact with one another to benefit their recipes. You can mirror this to an extent, by getting into your kitchen and experimenting with different foods, flavours and cooking techniques! Research and read recipes, and try them out yourself. It may take one attempt, or 300, but a new recipe could be born!
If you could imagine yourself as a recipe developer, you’ll need to gain a solid grounding in culinary skills and learn the craft from the best chefs in the business. Check out our Hospitality & Catering programmes today to find out more. On the level 3 programme you’ll start to learn how existing recipes can be amended and improved – and you never know in 10 years you could be the next recipe development sensation!
