Don't take away our inspiration

Related tags Food industry Restaurant Food

Working in the food industry, the most frequent question I am asked is: "Where do you get your inspiration from?"Well, a lot of it comes from abroad,...

Working in the food industry, the most frequent question I am asked is: "Where do you get your inspiration from?"
Well, a lot of it comes from abroad, whether it's restaurants, cafes, supermarkets or delis. But because of recent terrorist activity impacting on increased airport security, it's getting harder to bring inspiration back home.
On more than one occasion I have had local speciality foods confiscated by customs. The last time I was at Nice airport, for example, I was caught with 110ml of lavender syrup in my hand luggage. I don't know how much damage someone could do with lavender syrup, but the airport officials confiscated it regardless, as the maximum permitted volume is 100ml in hand luggage. In the past, the officials have also confiscated a block of quince paste, as they considered it to be a liquid. And I also suspect, that on more than one occasion, the customs officials may have dined on my membranillo and manchego. That's not a bad perk of the job.
I think that provenance will continue to be a key trend throughout 2010, as it was last year. One of the biggest reasons why I love France, Italy or Spain is because they put a lot of importance on their regional foods. Each region has its own specialities and even an individual town or village can have a unique recipe. The advantage of modern phones is that you always have the ability to take a picture of the latest inspiration that comes across your path.
When you work in the food industry you find that when you're on holiday, you are always working! Every restaurant menu, market or food shop is a potential source of inspiration. I often ask for copies of any menus that I come across, this at least is something that the officials can't confiscate from us at customs. As developers, we have an insatiable appetite for inspiration.

Related topics NPD

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