McCormick seeks future flavour innovators

International herb and spice company, McCormick Foods, has partnered with the Home Economics Institute of Australia (HEIA) to launch a high school challenge for budding flavour makers.

The inaugural Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge will provide Year 9 and Year 10 home economics students with an opportunity to develop a series of recipes based on the company's 2013 Flavour Forecast report which explores the emerging culinary trends.

According to Derrin Johnson, marketing director of McCormick Foods Australia, the competition was created to inspire culinary creativity in the classroom.

“Our 2013 Flavour Forecast has some amazing flavour combinations and our own Test Kitchen continues to explore the new flavour pairings and incorporate them in our new product and recipe development,” he said.

“We hope the students will also have a lot of fun exploring the many and varied ways in which these flavours can be brought to life in an entrée, main, snack or dessert.”

HEIA worked with McCormick to develop a design brief that was grounded in the curriculum. McCormick said the brief had a real-world context, and modelled some of the key features of the Australian curriculum, including critical and creative thinking, ICT capability, and Australia’s engagement with Asia.

Convenor of the HEIA Education Standing Committee, Dr Janet Reynolds said HEIA valued the real life industry knowledge McCormick would offer.

“The competition can provide students with experience of how the food industry works and promote creativity with food flavours amongst teachers and students.”

McCormick Foods Australia will also provide schools with support materials, including an A-Z glossary of all flavour ingredients, herb and spice sensory profiles, tips on food styling and photography, a background article on how food trends are identified and some key information on storing, selecting and pairing herbs and spices.

The national winning school will receive a Thermomix for the classroom, and the state/territory winning schools will receive prizes consisting of over $1500 of Wusthof knives and GreenPan cookware and a supply of McCormick herbs and spices for the classroom.

Entries close mid-November 2013. Secondary schools can find more details at www.flavourforecastchallenge.com.au.