Recipe development is one of the areas of my work which I really enjoy. I also love to share my ideas with you, for food which I think is the perfect combination of enticing, delicious and good for us, in my recipe of the week, hopefully inspiring you to try something new occasionally.

 

Being in the kitchen and getting creative with ingredients is when I’m able to relax and focus completely on what I’m doing. 

 

But the creativity starts long before I get in the kitchen. I spend time thinking about ingredients, flavours and processes, whether that’s what’s coming into season and how I might make use of it, a flavour or food that is new to me and that I’d like to experiment with or because I’ve been asked to create some dishes that meet certain dietary requirements or include something specific to support someone with an ailment or condition. 

 

I intuitively consider how ingredients, flavours and textures work with or against each other, how I can make a dish satisfying without needing top chef skills or having to use every pan in the cupboard, how I can make the most of ingredients and prevent any waste as well as how I can tempt my fussy eaters into exploring more!

 

And it is this working intuitively that I pass onto my clients in my cookery skills sessions. If you can understand ingredients and cooking processes and can use your senses to piece together what you like and don’t like and what to look for when ingredients are cooking then, there’s no need for a recipe or to use a recipe as anything more than a guide. 

 

What is it that you do to release your creativity?