In my test kitchen, playing with some flavors and my scale
Some of my favorite words to hear from my boss are, “I had a dream!” Well, now I know here it comes and I must tell myself, “listen with an open mind.” This is very simply how all good products are born. Someone has to think it, dream it or want it and then believe in it. But trust me, not all ideas ever make it to the shelf, sometimes all that happens is I get to play with “whatever” in my test kitchen and then the test sample goes on a shelf to be disposed of a year later with the crazy notion of “What were we thinking?”
Now, please do not misunderstand me here, product development is by far my most favorite part of my job (trust me, there is no glamor in quality assurance, important yes, fun…well, that’s a whole other blog topic). Trying to recreate a favorite recipe to a shelf stable product or attempting to develop what lies in the depth of my boss’ mind is quite challenging and frankly something I enjoy doing.
That's me (Cindy), evaluating samples by smell and taste
I come to love my projects and treat them like my offspring. I take pride in them and cherish them like only a mother could. The problem with this obsession of mine comes in letting go of the failures and sending off the successes to the hard knocks world of the food industry. Success rates of new products are not very high. But oh when they succeed and a customer compliments it, my chest is up high and I do my happy dance. Once in a while, I will pass by a product on a store shelf or in a customer’s basket and think, “Man, I developed that product!” The sense of pride is quite rewarding.
I have been at this game now 14 years and it is still fun and exciting. My test kitchen is “the place to be” or like in high school, “the bench where the cool kids hang out.” And yes, I bask in the glory of it! I feel for the people who update their facebook status with bile like commentaries of their work day. Yes, I have days where I rather be at my camp (ok, I have that thought all the time), but I do love what I do and Tony Chachere’s has been my home to practice my love of science, creating, and cooking.
Cindy Adams-Ardoin
Food Scientist
Tony Chachere’s
