Tag: cooking recipe

My journey with food started as a little girl in Norway, reading cookbooks and saving recipes from magazines. I have fond memories of my grandmother’s handwritten notes that filled me with culinary inspiration. Later, I became a certified chef de cuisine and spent a decade in restaurants creating menus for restaurants and catering events.

Crafting menus with seasonal ingredients, textures, colors, and presentation became my passion. Little did I know that my background as a chef combined with my experience as a freelance writer would lead me to become a recipe developer for food brands and corporate businesses, creating recipes for consumers and kitchen staff.

Roles of a recipe developer

Working as a recipe developer may involve different roles. From creating kitchen recipes for kitchen staff to crafting content for magazines and social media, I have worked with food brands and in corporate kitchens. The rule remains the same: test and describe recipes accurately, as appearances can be deceiving.

Understanding your audience and goals

Before you start suggesting recipe ideas as a recipe developer, consider your audience and client’s goals. Think about recipes that have visual appeal, especially for mediums like videos. For corporate clients, think about cost-effective and practical recipes suited to their context and how easy they are to prepare in a large corporate kitchen.

The Importance of Research

Research is key for a recipe developer, whether for corporate kitchens or home cooks. Study culinary trends and seasonal ingredients. Let research inspire innovation. For visual media, consider photogenic cooking styles.Check out this recipe video I developed for Oxford Blueberries

Crafting your recipe

Draft your vision into a recipe through careful drafting. Sketch recipes to visualize the final dish. Test recipes and take exact notes of measurements and cooking techniques and correct the recipes for consistency and desired aesthetics of the dish. 

Important to get feedback from a tasting panel for a recipe developer

Make your final dish and present your food to a taste panel.  Get feedback  and insights from the tasting panel and incorporate feedback to polish the recipe.

The Art of Articulation: Writing the Recipe

Writing a recipe is an art. Make sure you have detailed accurate measurements and use simple language. Describe cooking techniques clearly, arrange cooking  steps chronologically. Use both cups and kilograms for global accessibility. Use food programs to identify allergens and nutrition information for recipes when there is a request for that detail. Check out this recipe that I developed for foodnetwork.ca