The ins and outs of recipe development

We all love the cookbooks, magazines, and websites that contain the recipes that we eagerly read, aspire to, make, and enjoy. The sheer volume of recipes easily available to us is staggering, but have you ever wondered what goes into the developing a really great recipe? Christine Gallary did, and experienced the ins and outs of recipe development during a stint at Cook’s Illustrated Magazine. She explains to us what she learned during her time there. 

Gallary provides us with five practice pointers to developing recipes. One of the first problems she encountered as an intern at Cook’s Illustrated was in finding the right words to describe how a food tasted. Learning how to accurately describe foods – including flavors, textures, and other attributes – helped her determine what aspects needed to be improved for the next iteration of the recipe. 

Research is also essential in recipe development. Sometimes it’s best to start with a well-tested recipe as a jumping off point (no surprise that Gallary recommends EYB as a tool for this task). Hand-in-hand with research is testing, preferably with side-by-side comparisons to make sure that a tweak has the desired effect. Read more on food writer and writing coach Dianne Jacobs’ excellent website.