Can everyday meals really taste like restaurant dishes?

When people think of restaurant food, they imagine flavour, freshness and the personal touch of a chef’s hand. But can those qualities be brought into everyday meals that come from a packet or a tin? The short answer is yes. And the way it is achieved is by treating cooking as both an art and a science. At Givaudan, this is where the Culinary Notes programme comes in, helping food companies give consumers the comfort of home cooking at a global scale.

What is the challenge?

Everyday products such as ready meals, soups or savoury snacks are expected to deliver on convenience. But increasingly, people want them to taste like they were made fresh in the kitchen. They want the warmth of a broth that has simmered for hours, the smoky notes of a grilled skewer, or the gentle sweetness of a slow roast. Reproducing those experiences in packaged form is not simple. It requires an understanding of what makes flavours feel authentic in the first place.
Did you know that many of the taste cues people associate with “home cooking” are linked to cooking techniques rather than just ingredients? The caramelisation that happens in frying, the butteriness of braising, or the char of a barbecue are signals that tell us something was made with care.

How does Givaudan capture that experience?

To answer this question, Givaudan begins with sensory research. Our chefs and flavourists study how traditional recipes are cooked in different parts of the world. They break down the sensory journey of cooking: sight, smell, texture, and taste. For example, they do not just look at chicken broth as an ingredient base, but ask what aromas rise from the pot, how the flavours develop across time, and how the mouthfeel changes as stock reduces.
Through the Culinary Notes programme, these findings are turned into flavour solutions that food manufacturers can use in their products. It is a science of recreating cues that people naturally connect with.

“We bring the soul of homemade cooking into foods people enjoy every day.” - The Givaudan Culinary Team