For a recipe developer, coming up with original recipe ideas is always a challenge. Some days it feels like everything has been done before. But with Matthew Robinson's Simple Innovation Process, coming up with a unique twist on an old recipe idea doesn't have to be that hard!
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The old saying “give a person a fish and they eat for a day; teach a person to fish and they can eat forever" has a corollary in the food world: “teach a person a recipe and they can make one dish; teach a person a basic recipe and show them how do a little innovative thinking and they can cook hundreds of dishes.”
Innovative Recipe Development
The concept of the basic recipe is a powerful one providing a blank canvas from which to develop something new. When partnered with solid innovation techniques, the basic recipe becomes even more powerful because the potential for new dishes becomes multiplies easily!
The never-ending job of recipe developers is to consistently whip up something new in the kitchen creating “WOW“ moments for audiences and clients alike. Innovation tools can help recipe developers be more consistent and successful doing this. With a little practice, these tools will become just as important as pots and pans!
All you need is my formula: Basic Recipe + Innovative Thinking = WOW!
Lets Start With A Basic Recipe
So just what is a basic recipe?
The idea of a basic recipe isn’t really a new idea. As others have described previously, it is simply the ratio of ingredients in a dish – 1 part X, 2 parts Y, etc. In many cases it may be quite vague: vinaigrette – 1 part acid, 2 parts oil.
These are recipes in their simplest form giving a general ratio from which to start and simple instructions on how to create the dish. They are a great starting point for creating something new. By replacing ingredients with broad descriptors in any good recipe you can create a basic recipe.
Take an even simpler basic recipe example. The graphic depicts a basic recipe for a Knickerbocker Glory – a little known, layered dessert from Britain. You may or may not have heard of it but, as you can see, there could be hundreds of different ways new Knickerbocker Glories could be created.
Innovative Thinking - Create a Process For Recipe Development
Process? Sounds boring! Sure, it might not be the sexiest thing, but it works. Make no mistake; innovation is a process, not to be confused with creativity or invention. Here are the steps of innovation.
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Decide What You Want To Do |
Get Inspired |
Experiment Until WOW! |
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1. State Your Purpose. |
2. Stimulate with New Facts. |
3. Formulate Themes or Opportunity Areas. |
4. Get Your Ideas on Paper. |
5. Bring Your Ideas to Life So They Can Be Experienced. |
6. Iterate and perfect what you have made. |
Let’s get innovating!
State The Purpose of the Recipe – Be Specific.
For this example we're going to create a Knickerbocker Glory dessert recipe that pays homage to Canada.
Gather New Information For Recipe Inspiration.
New information (sometimes called stimulus or inspiration) is the foundation of innovation and, thankfully, it's everywhere! It can come from research, travel, a new ingredient or kitchen tool, a walk down the street, a piece of fabric... even things we don't think are related to food can be used to innovate and inspire!
Using new facts helps make new connections that open up new possibilities and never-thought-of ideas. Without new information, innovation simply can't happen. Of course, if the recipe development is being done for a client, they may have the needed stimulus. This includes things like consumer information and flavor trend data.
Here are some facts about Canada that will help create some themes from which to innovate to create our new Knickerbocker Glory dessert.
Facts about Canada.
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Canada holds the record for the most gold medals ever won at the Winter Olympics |
Winnie the Pooh was written by a Canadian |
Montreal Is often called the City of Saints |
Canada has more lakes than the lakes of all other countries combined |
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80% of all alcohol consumed in Canada is in the form of beer |
77% of the world’s maple syrup comes from Canada |
Macaroni and cheese is the most purchased item in the grocery |
Canada has more donuts shops per capita then anywhere else |
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Basketball was invented by a Canadian |
Canada is the world’s largest producer of blueberry blossom honey |
The coffee drink Double Double is very popular |
Sweet Summer Corn is a favorite in Canada |
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Ice Hockey is a popular sport in Canada |
Nanaimo Bars are a legendary dessert in Canada |
French is spoken in one part of Canada and English in another |
Formulating Themes For New Recipes.
When coming up with new recipe ideas, we could innovate based on individual facts, but it helps to think more broadly and use themes instead. This not only helps ensure a greater number of ideas, but also helps inspire bigger ideas! Look for opportunities and niches as you evaluate the information and inspiration you've gathered.
Consider formulating themes to be like mis en place for information. In practice, we list the facts under each theme to get an idea of how the opportunity area was created
Here are the themes created from the above facts.
| Canadian Love of Sport | The Best Things From Canada | Canadian Desserts |
Recipe Brainstorming - Recipes Galore!
Now start getting ideas on paper. Using the themes and facts, write your ideas down, clearly describing what you wish to create. We want enough detail so when it comes time to bring the idea to life, all the information is there. Below are three ideas with the layers of the Knickerbocker Glory described.
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Canadian Love of Sport |
The Best Things From Canada |
Canadian Desserts |
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The Ice Hockey (Layers from Top to Bottom) Edible Gold Leaf Maple Syrup Whipped Cream Blueberry Coulis Light Beer Granita May West Cakes Blueberry Coulis Maple Whipped Cream |
Oh Canadian Food (Layers from Top to Bottom) Fried Macaroni Noodles with powdered Sugar Honey Whipped Cream Blueberry and Sweet Corn Ice Cream Maple Syrup Angel Food Cake Fried Macaroni Noodles Honey Whipped Cream |
The Nanaimo Bar - Redo (Layers from Top to Bottom) Chopped Coconut/Pecans Chocolate Whipped Cream Graham Cracker Crumbs Vanilla Custard Ice Cream Brown Sugar Cake Chocolate Syrup Chopped Coconut/Pecans |
Many more ideas could have been created under these themes. In fact, other people could have been invited to be part of an innovation recipe brainstorming session to react to the facts and themes and create their own new ideas that could be completely different! The three Knickerbocker Glory ideas described above say Canada in very different ways. We need to use our own criteria to decide which is best.
Bring Recipe Ideas To Life In The Kitchen: Test and Iterate.
The three ideas above are just that, only ideas. An essential part of innovation is bringing ideas to life. It is now a matter of getting in the kitchen, taking our basic recipes and applying our innovative ideas to them. Bringing them to life and perfecting them until a great Canadian WOW moment is made completes the process.
Recipe Innovation In Summary:
- Basic Recipe + Innovative Thinking = WOW!
- Be clear in your purpose, find new facts and stimulus to help create new connections and new opportunity areas.
- Get your ideas on paper. Seek feedback.
- Create the best ideas to be experienced first hand.
- Test, iterate and perfect your innovation until WOW.
Got questions? Send them to matthew.robinson@theculinaryexchange.net.
More Reading:
- Recipe Development: Bringing Home Flavours From Your Travels
- Recipe Development: Tips For Radical Recipe Inspiration
- 5 Tips For Adapting Old Recipes For a Modern Kitchen
Matthew Robinson is the author of Knickerbocker Glory: A Chef’s Guide to Innovation in the Kitchen and Beyond (with contributions from chef, recipe developer and cookbook author Andrea Lynn). He has spent 17 years in the food industry as a scientist, spokesperson, and product developer. He is the founder of exCLAIM International, a nutrition science and claims strategy consultancy and creator of TheCulinaryExchange.com, an up-and-coming destination for information regarding innovation in the culinary arts. Matthew has an M.S. from The University of Georgia in Nutrition Science and is a graduate of the professional culinary program at The French Culinary Institute in New York City. He resides in Amsterdam.
This site is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for the site to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
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[…] the good folks at Food Bloggers of Canada are publishing my article called Using a Simple Innovation Process in Recipe Development. For Foodies and Recipe Developers alike, the article is all about how to innovate and create […]
This is quite a different way from the “typical food blogger way” of recipe development. I find we all end up in a rut of just swapping ingredients, like apples for pears (please, no offense to anybody because I’m as much guilty as the rest!!!!): I feel like I need to mull this one over some more, lol! I’m torn between the “Oh Canadian food” with the fried noodles for crunch (genius!) and the Nanaimo bar redo because I love Nanaimo bars and I like the idea of transforming the bar into a parfait of sorts!
Hi Jan! I agree with you that this is a very different way to view recipe development. Without new perspectives and new stimulus I think it is difficult to be innovative. Although just swapping ingredients can lead to great things this new way to do recipe development helps bring out opportunities to be a bit more disruptive. It helps create what I call WOW moments which can happen through out the whole process. I hope you enjoyed the article and I hope it help you and the other readers create tons of WOW moments! After you mull it a bit more I am happy to continue the conversation – matthew.robinson@theculinaryexchange.net. Best Regards, Matthew
The Knickerbocker Glory, redesigned as a Nanaimo Bar… sign me up NOW!!
The Nanaimo Bar. Canadian desserts are always outstanding!
I have a big sweet tooth so definitely Canadian desserts, the Nanaimo Bar Redo. Plus I live on Vancouver Island so it’s practically calling my name.
I would definitely try the Canadian desserts theme because I love to bake!
I’d have to go with the Ice Hockey. Maple Syrup Whipped Cream and Blueberry Coulis would be awesome together!
I’m torn between The Ice Hockey and The Naniamo Bar – Redo. If I had to pick just one then I guess I’d be into revamping The Nanaimo Bar.
Totally The Ice Hockey, that one had me starting with the edible gold leaf!
Have to go with the Ice Hockey. I can’t resist the Maple Syrup Whipped Cream and May West cakes!
I am a die-hard Canadian -. It has to be the Best Things from Canada. I often struggle with how to freshen up and reinvent recipes I come across, especially those found in the old cookbooks, while still respecting the original author and ideas. This book sounds like it would be incredibly helpful
I would definitely try the Canadian Desserts, although he even makes hockey sound interesting! Sounds like an interesting book!
The Canadian Desserts!
Oh I love the Nanaimo bar idea! Such a cool way to look at recipes and now this really has me thinking. Also a great strategy for using new ingredients to swap for others if accommodating allergies.
Canadian Desserts for me!
Canadian Desserts!