Anh Nguy, 41, is a culinologist at Ingredion. She works in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
Q. What do you do as a culinologist for Ingredion?
A. Culinology is a fusion of culinary arts and food science. Culinologists typically create food concepts for food companies and restaurants that end up on store shelves and menus. We are also known as research chefs. People come to Ingredion for the ingredients we manufacture, like starches, texturizers and sweeteners, or to collaborate on a product. I work on both types of projects in our professional test kitchen, and I also give presentations to potential customers. I'll ask them if they want natural ingredients, a gluten-free product and so forth.
Q. Do you prefer working in the lab or giving presentations?
A. I don't favor one over the other because they complement each other. Because I'm hands-on in the lab, I can see for myself how ingredients interact, but I also have the deep knowledge to be able to explain the science everything is based on.
Q. What is your background?
A. I'm Chinese, but I was born in Vietnam. My family immigrated to the United States when I was 10, and I later became a citizen. I have a bachelor's in food science from Pennsylvania State University.
Q. Did you always see yourself working in this field?
A. I wanted to be an architect until I took drafting and engineering classes in college and decided that that career was not for me.
Q. Have you ever had a flop in the lab?
A. Mistakes are a part of cooking, and sometimes there's a positive outcome. Once I was developing a brown sauce for a chef and mistakenly added iced tea from another project, thinking it was beef stock. The tea actually gave the sauce a more complex flavor. The chef loved it.
Q. How long does it take to complete a project?
A. Projects can last from seven days up to a year. It depends on how complex the product is. I sometimes work on two projects at a time. I've worked on up to five, but I don't like that. It gets confusing.
Q. Does anything about your work carry over to your personal life?
A. Our products aren't sold directly to consumers, but I can use them at home and I often do. I add some ingredients to my Thanksgiving gravy, and I make an awesome fresh guacamole dip.
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