Job: Food scientist
Age: 29
Home: Roscoe, Illinois
Title: Associate application scientist, culinary specialist, Kerry Ingredients North America in Beloit, Wisconsin
Explain your job: Scientist, chef and sales resource. I prepare culinary fare and translate it into a scientific application, I formulate ingredients, I provide technical support to sales calls, and sometimes I simply cook.
Training: Culinary Institute of America, A.O.S. Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America, Maitre d’ Fellowship, Ohio State University, B.S. Food Science
What drew you to the food world? Creation, instinct, emotion, desire, camaraderie, pleasure, poetry … all the same things that draw you to a relationship of any personal nature.
Why did you become a food scientist? To me, food is similar to a painting. It begins as the whole, the finished dish, the plate as a frame. Then the individual elements begin to define themselves. Then the details follow: the brushstrokes, the subtle blending of colors, cracked black pepper’s expressive release, cardamom’s tantalizing tease. I enjoy the challenge of re-creating the fresh taste I’ve created as a chef into a product that can be enjoyed in the home.
Why is your job cool? My job is cool because there is no sacrifice of interest; I get to be the scientist, an artist and a maitre d’. I can experience the latest culinary trends and cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs.
What is the biggest misperception about manufactured ingredients? The biggest misconception about manufactured ingredients is the connotation that there are “non-manufactured” ingredients. Think about it: If you peel two potatoes for dinner and drizzle them with butter, you are manufacturing a serving of food. Certainly creating 2 million potato servings necessitates some human ingenuity and scientific resources.
