Readers' lives

NAME: John Jones

JOB TITLE: Head Chef

PLACE OF WORK: BAE Systems, Barrow-in-Furness

HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED IN THE CATERING INDUSTRY? 33 years.

PASSIONS OUTSIDE OF THE KITCHEN? Football and art.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE CUISINE TO EAT? Creole or South American.

WHICH CHEF DO YOU RESPECT THE MOST AND WHY? Anthony Bourdain – he always got the best out of any ingredient and kept it very simple.

WHAT IS YOUR MUST-HAVE KITCHEN GADGET? Robot coupe food processor.

WHAT’S YOUR TIP TO CUT WASTAGE IN THE KITCHEN? Use fresh ingredients and utilise everything.

WHAT IS YOUR TOP TIP FOR SOMEONE STARTING OUT IN THE CATERING INDUSTRY?

Preparation is key.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO SWITCH OFF/ RECHARGE? Watch football.

WHAT’S THE WORST JOB YOU HAVE EVER DONE? Making club sandwiches – all day, every day.

WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE GOING TO BE A COOK/CHEF?

10 years old when I was pulling on my father’s apron making scones.

WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE TAKING OVER IN 2023? Back to French classics.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COUNTRY RANGE PRODUCT AND WHY? The stocks are amazing.

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU MOST LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH IN SUMMER? Shellfish and fish.

RECIPE TESTING Spartak Arutyunyan from Dodo Pizza (UAE) used ChatGPT to suggest a new pizza recipe. It suggested a lamb kofte pizza with tahini and za’atar sauce, topped with feta. He changed the lamb to chicken, feta to paneer and added spices and lime. In other words, he used AI for inspiration but added his chef skills to create his own recipe. HELPING HAND When it comes to helping us to eat a certain way, AI seems to come into its own. Recipe generators have been found to be helpful when planning specialist menus, such as for restricted diets, as well as cost-saving and reducing waste. The Yellow Sticker Cook Book uses AI to create recipes using reduced items from supermarkets.

AI TAKEOVER? The AI landscape is moving at pace, but it looks like AI recipe creation has a long way to go. The importance of human input in the creative process is not to be underestimated. Until computers can whip up a meal and taste it like a highly trained chef, food creation is in safe (human) hands!