How do pastry and culinary chefs design sensory complexity?

Abstract

New products offer a benchmark showing how complexity is often a driver of food innovation. For example, in the dairy category, innovation processes have upgraded yogurts to gourmet desserts. These innovations are often characterized by different multi-textured and/or multi-flavored layers. However, there are still unanswered questions: How far should innovation go in terms of complexity? How can food complexity be designed? How is structural complexity perceived by consumers? Here we set out to answer these questions following a four-step approach. First, ten pastry and culinary chefs from the Institut Paul Bocuse were asked to design three variants of a recipe of their choice varying in complexity: low, medium and high complexity. The recipe was to be sweet or savory but consumed cold and served in an opaque verrine (thick-walled cup usually used for small portion dish or amuse-bouche). Second, each chef was invited to an individual 1-h interview to understand how he/she intended to deliver complexity. Third, a technical testing session was set up with five tasters to perform sensory characterization of each sample. Fourth, fifteen naive participants (150 in total) evaluated the complexity of each sample within a triad (balanced order). The results showed that the chefs used different design strategies to attain complexity. They combined different flavors and tastes, they contrasted textures, they worked on the temporal evolution of sensations, and they aimed to surprise the consumer. The sensory results attest the effect of the strategies used, and results from naive participants confirm that the products exhibited the expected complexity levels intended by chefs. This study identifies several ways to drive food design through mastery of sensory complexity. It also highlights the benefits for the science of working with chefs.