The Secret Sauce, a Recipe for Success
As undergraduates at Northeastern, we had the opportunity to go on co-ops and 6-month-long internships, allowing us to experience “experimental learning” outside the classroom.
One of my co-ops was at America’s Test Kitchen, a cooking show and publisher of magazines and digital content. On the software team, it was my first experience shipping code to a public audience. We were responsible for implementing features from the design team to curate the front page of America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Illustrated, and Cook’s Country.
Our office also held the test kitchen that researched recipes to be released, taste tests of ingredients and cookware, and many refrigerators that had, at times, six iterations of Beef Wellington, results of the experimentation.
The test kitchen’s methodology relied on a science-based approach that would examine existing recipes, draft a new one, and test out different variables to develop an “ideal and foolproof” recipe with repeatable results. As an engineering student, this sounded reliable to me. It was the first time cooking was presented in this process instead of “this is how grandma has always done it.”
Five years later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I wondered if that methodology was practical enough. I didn’t have time for an entity to iterate and publish what I wanted to make. Nor did I have the same type of equipment, kitchen setup, and ingredients at times.
To make cooking a sustainable activity, I had to rely on my skills and experience to create my secret sauce, which depended greatly on my engineering background and creative inclinations.
My Secret Sauce:
Decide what I want and define parameters.
“Am I feeling pasta? Vegetables? Something warm?”
“Spicy soup that uses leftover spinach in the fridge.”
Research options.
You can use inspiration from past meals and recipes online.
Think about what you liked and disliked. The beauty of cooking food is that you can make it how you want.
Make a plan.
Decide which ingredients and utensils, cooking method, and order of operations.
Be mindful of how long it takes to prepare and cook each ingredient when determining your order of operations.
Start cooking, and don’t be afraid to deviate from the plan!
Life happens; your blender breaks, you’re out of parsley, and you’ve accidentally over-salted the dish. If something doesn’t turn out the way you expected, improvise. Part of the process is learning to make the next informed decision.
Approaching cooking methodically as an engineer and creatively as an artist, you can cultivate your unique skills and talents to iterate on a dish and refine your version of a secret sauce. It doesn’t have to be all in one day; take it one meal at a time!