Kiwi Academics Develop New Food Design Technique
Two leading academics have developed a new food design technique to help inspire the next generation of culinary
designers, and make artistic food presentation more accessible to New Zealand restaurants.
The new technique developed in consultation with EPIC Otago Polytechnic R & D centre and The Food Design Institute at Otago Polytechnic allows chefs to produce large quantities of artistically
designed food products by hand on a commercial scale with a small team, and at reduced cost.
Otago Polytechnic’s Timothy Lynch, who and lectures on sustainability in the food industry, says they wanted to present
ingredients in a way that was consistent with multisensory food design concepts.
“The process involves working with natural products to design handcrafted foods that look identical to fruit and
vegetables but are filled with contrasting flavours.”
“Initially we couldn't find a way to make these products on a small scale, but a collaboration with the EPIC helped us
overcome several barriers, and we were able to develop a method of crafting the lifelike products using food-grade
silicon moulds, which we made ourselves,” he says.
Lynch says a project of this scale and complexity would require international assistance and a large team of scientists
and food specialists. This would have made the project cost prohibitive by New Zealand industry standards, he says.
“Thanks to the ingenuity of some of our colleagues and the dedication of our staff and students we have managed to find
a way to bring these food creations to life,”- says Lynch.
Senior lecturer Tony Heptinstall who has catered for Prince Charles and other royal family members says one of the
objectives was to increase current industry capital through being part of an innovative collaboration between the food
industry and education.
“We were conscious that in order to inspire the students we needed to take on a challenge that solved a real world
problem and used design thinking at the same time,” he says.
“The technique involves making edible fruit and vegetables replicas from vegan white[HS1] chocolate and So Good milks –
,” says Heptinstall. The hand moulded products are then filled with a variety of contrasting l recipe combinations using
a diverse range of readily available ingredients including the nut milks.
“It's not everyday that you get to have a dhal curry which is encased in tumeric chocolate and presented in a red or
green chilli shell or an apple pie smoothie presented in an apple hanging on a tree. We've got a series of other quite
contrasting flavours all designed to ‘shake up’ what a plant based diet can look like.”
“What we’re doing is not only highlighting the design evolution of the food we are able to create, but also embrace the
contemporary movement towards flexitarian and vegetarian diets,” says Heptinstall.
“People are looking at food from not just a taste and health consideration but from a sustainability and environmental
perspective,” he says.
Sanitarium’s marketing business manager Hayley Scott who approached the tertiary institution with the technical
challenge said the outcome surpassed their expectations.
“We approached the polytechnic to help us come up with a way to show Kiwis how Non Dairy milks can be used creatively in
kitchens around the country.
“Throughout their collaboration with their students and colleagues they have completely embraced this challenge and we
have been amazed at what they have been able to produce
“We are thrilled to see it inspire students, the food industry and the general public as well,” she says
A proof of concept display has been created in the form of an entirely man made, edible garden where more than 3,000
hand-crafted fruit and vegetables will be made available to the public to sample.
The garden will be open to the public from February 8-9 between 11.30am-2.30pm at Takutai Square, Britomart, Auckland.
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