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Careers in Culinology
If you have an interest in science as well as food, culinology—the blending of culinary arts and the science of food—may be a way to combine both of your interests into a career as a research chef.
What is a Research Chef?
Also known as product development or innovation chefs, research chefs create new foods for restaurant chains, coffee shops, and food manufacturing companies. Chef Anne Albertine, research chef for Taco Bell, explains, “My team and I make restaurant quality food that can be mass produced, so the culinary quality—the freshness, taste, and texture—has to hold up.”
Research chefs also have to be savvy about mass production, food preservation, and scientific terminology as well as have good communication skills. They use customer surveys to elicit suggestions for refining recipes. According to Chef Albertine, “People might say a product is too messy, too spicy, or too expensive, so I tweak it. I pick up fresh ingredients, then go play in my test kitchen.”
Research chefs helped make Paul Newman’s food line a success and will be instrumental in developing the gourmet frozen dinners that Martha Stewart intends to sell in her latest culinary business venture with Costco. Hawaii regional cuisine chef Beverly Gannon recently collaborated with research chefs to come up with a tasting menu, a popular item in trendy restaurants, for Hawaiian Airlines passengers.
Research Chef Preparation
The straight path to a research chef is a degree in culinary arts with additional classes in food science and chemistry. Chef Albertine, however, held a bachelor’s degree in general science and came to culinology via a culinary degree and several internships with fine dining chefs.
Research Chef Benefits
Unlike restaurant chefs, most research chefs work standard business hours. In order to keep abreast of the latest culinary industry trends, they often eat at fine restaurants, travel abroad, and scour culinary magazines, Web sites, and cookbooks for recipes. According to a survey conducted by the Research Chefs Association, research chefs consistently earn toward the top of the chef pay scale—on average, from $70,000 to $90,000.
About the Author
Judi Sandall is a technical writer and a regular Chef School Review columnist. She is a graduate of the State University of New York, with a BA in English Literature.
Source(s):
Bureau of Labor Statistics - (PDF)
Research Chefs Association
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