To Örebro University

Landraces, that is, crop and livestock not improved by formal breeding, are scarce in the industrialized world and are mainly maintained ex situ for breeding purposes. The natural biodiversity of these landraces may contribute to securing food production that can adapt to a changing climate, crop pathogens, diseases, and other agricultural challenges. In addition, landraces might also possess unique quality traits. Our aim is to take the idea of crop and livestock diversity further by connecting flavor differences of different landraces and varieties, with gastronomic applications. Do landraces provide a creative possibility of using distinct sensory characteristics to create new dishes and food products and/or to optimize recipes by finding the right variety for existing dishes and food products? This study suggests that apple, pea, pear, and poultry landraces, apart from being valuable in terms of biodiversity in sustainable food systems, also possess unique and distinct gastronomic potential. For example, citrus odors in apples, nutty taste in gray peas, astringent taste in pears, and high odor intensity of stable in poultry is of culinary relevance when working with apple juice, plant-based alternatives to meat, poached pears, and roasted rooster, respectively. To fully explore, and take advantage of, the gastronomic potential landraces possess, additional studies are needed in order to find suitable cooking methods and development of recipes.

Practical Application: Seeking to increase market interest for landraces, highlighting gastronomic values could stimulate higher demand and, in turn, contribute to larger and more resilient populations preserved in situ. Specifically, the paper is of use to (I) crop and livestock producers and food companies who wish to provide products with greater sensory variation, (II) individuals, companies, and organizations with the aim to increase landrace demand and/or preservation, and (III) breeders and genetic engineers managing genetic traits of landraces and other varieties.

The aim of this study is to apply a recipe development process designed to unfold how to start from a crop ‐ especially less known landraces and varieties ‐ and maximize its culinary utility. How can such a recipe development process be modelled? What more than the recipe itself can be obtained from the recipe development process? In this study, the objective is to create a basic recipe for grey peas that supports the crop’s sensory qualities, and test it in different food products. Using the recipe development process model, our results suggest that minced grey peas, which have authentic nutty flavours, pronounced chewing resistance and a combination of soft and hard textures, can be used to create appealing plant-based patties. When minced grey peas are fried in oil, greater taste intensity, spiciness, umami and complexity are achieved. Additional applications of minced grey peas were also identified, suggesting that the recipe development process can yield information on how to develop another food product with the same basic recipe. The recipe development process we suggest ‐ the culinary funnel ‐ can thus be used to explore the culinary possibilities of lesser known landraces and varieties.

A plant-rich meal pattern is widely considered to be one possible solution for a shift towards a more sustainable food culture that considerably decreases food-related greenhouse gas emissions globally. The public meal, in particular school meals, can ideally become a platform for developing multisectoral cooperation through culinary action, transforming food from being a commodity to part of a strategic solution with societal outcomes. The aim of our study is to support a shift toward more sustainable meal solutions within the public meal sector. The objective is to introduce the check-all-that-apply (CATA) method in a large real-life consumer study, using only one food product, during a lunch break, and still account for the variation in perception between consumers. The objective is also to explore strategic multi-sectoral insights for introducing new foods to a larger population for a shift toward a plant-rich meal pattern. In this study, we established a cooperation between a small-sized food company, four schools and a university in Sweden. A plant-based sausage roll based on minced grey peas was developed. The likes and dislikes of 800 t(w)eens being served the grey pea roll were checked using hedonic values and CATA questions and compared with an ideal. To understand which CATA terms were persistent (meaning relevant, liked and just-about-right across consumer clusters), results including frequency scores, consistency, mean impact on liking, just-about-right scores and agglomerative hierarchical clustering were combined in an extended statistical processing. Our results show that unique/novel and natural were the only persistent CATA terms; these terms should therefore be interesting candidates for further improvement regarding classification and conceptualization of plant-based products in public meals. The CATA term vegetarian, on the other hand, can both increase and decrease liking scores.