issue 1 2017

34
ingredients
chocolate ice cream, another layer
of cake and finally a chocolate
glaze. The tasting when it’s all
done is a success: The colleagues
like the creation. It’s still a bit
sweet and the chocolate glaze is a
little too thick, but the mixture of
flavours goes together perfectly.
The composition has to be right
For another dessert, a flavourist
joins the team. A lemon flavour
used in one of the mini portions of
ice cream doesn’t quite fit. Since
we always use the materials in our
flavour library first, we sometimes
need to tweak them. The flavourist
has already recognised the issue.
She also took a look at the
composition to see if maybe she
could add a second natural
molecule. “They’re there, for
example, to really bring out the top
notes or to enhance the longlasting
effect of the flavour.” She
gets to work mixing various
combinations until the right taste
has been achieved.
Symrise reaches about 40% of its
customers with these proactive
concepts. Another part of the
orders comes through briefings in
which the customers say exactly
what they want. A food
manufacturer might send their own
vanilla milk, which they would like
to see outfitted with a new recipe.
The taste should be similar but a
little more buttery. The team gets
to work recreating the flavour
composition. The first steps are
pretty easy, especially since the
flavourist has a great deal of
experience. In her training and
over time, she has learned to
recognise and distinguish between
more than 1,000 flavour molecules
and natural extracts. She starts
with a natural vanilla extract, adds
a few other notes until she feels it
suits the demand, and then quality
control in Holzminden checks the
result of her creation before
sending it to the customer.
A successful experiment
The meringue experiment was a
success. The trained chef mixed
the egg whites and powdered
sugar, beat them until stiff, added
a bit of natural black currant and
red beet extract for colouring,
mixed a tiny bit of yoghurt with
vanilla extract and combined
raspberries and peaches in a
chunky puree. Layered on top of
one another and decorated with
crispy white and brown chocolate
balls from the Diana portfolio, it all
comes together in a delicious
dessert. Even though it tastes
really good, they’re not quite
satisfied with it yet. The meringue
wasn’t in the oven for quite long
enough, which is why it’s a little
too soft on the inside. We can do
better. They turn around and start
working again, on the hunt for the
best taste. n
Symrise AG
www.symrise.com
www.foodmagazine.eu.com issue one | 2017