Cooks as collaborative creators and evaluators: An iterative sensory-driven workshop to create vegetarian dishes

Among the obstacles to substituting animal-based food products with more sustainable plant-based alternatives at home and in food service is the lack of familiarity and creativity among consumers and culinary professionals. This case study describes and discusses the designing of a two-day hands-on workshop for eighteen cooks from Örebro Municipality, Sweden. In a collaborative design process, participants experimented with eight vegetable ingredients (legumes, grains and plant-based meat alternatives) and different cooking techniques (e.g. baking, grilling and frying) to create thirteen novel or adapted vegetarian dishes. The workshop incorporated sensory assessments of the plain ingredients, the cooked ingredients and the final dishes, empowering cooks as both creators and evaluators and generating valuable data for future recipe development. The resulting dishes, ranging from light to hearty and simple to complex, indicated no correlation between the number of components and overall liking, challenging the common perception that vegetarian dishes require more effort, ingredients or complexity. A follow-up questionnaire and group interview provided insights into the workshop’s impact and potential improvements. The case of this workshop sparks broader discussions about how to create dishes by taking ingredients as a starting point, and how methods from sensory science can be used to improve the flavour of vegetarian meals. It also raises questions about how researchers can design more horizontal and collaborative interactions with other actors of society – such as, in this case, cooks working in public meal services.