Publication of the FIPDes book: “The Cooking Passport”

The idea took shape in the creative mind of Roisin Gallagher, an FIPDes student originally from Ireland with a passion for culinary design, following an international luncheon organized by AgroParisTech each year during the first semester of the FIPDes program. Barbara Rega, the director of the master’s program and a faculty member at AgroParisTech, saw it as a great opportunity create an educational tool for the general public while simultaneously strengthening cooperation between students and keeping motivation high during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We designed this book so that the recipes selected could serve as an opportunity to explain the underlying scientific phenomena and to offer insight into the ways that using specific ingredients and processes can help us achieve more sustainable production and consumption of our food.” (Barbara Rega, Director of the FIPDes Master’s Program).
“I tried to find former students’ recipes but when this wasn’t possible, I drew inspiration from original recipes […]” (Roisin Gallagher, FIPDes student from the 9^th year of the program’s existence).

This book was prepared by FIPDes students from A to Z (recipes, food photography, scientific texts, images, and layout) working on the project from different countries. It includes recipes from over 60 countries, representing the nationalities of different FIPDes students since 2011, in a food-loving, adventurous, and curious spirit. Each recipe features a paragraph describing the food science behind it (physicochemical phenomena, functionality and stability issues, food processing and sustainability processes)—showing just how passionate the FIPDes community (students and staff) is about its food, from the molecules that make it up to the final overall sensory experience!

Representatives from the consortium of universities involved in the FIPDes program (AgroParisTech-Paris-Saclay University, Lund University, Università di Napoli Federico II, Technological University Dublin) offered support and guidance for the project from the outset. They also penned the book’s introduction, in which they offered insight into the FIPDes program, detailing how it emerged, how it has changed since, and what the future holds for it.

Christine Voelkl from the EACEA (European Education and Culture Executive Agency) penned the book’s foreword.

“I am delighted to congratulate the FIPDes family for their contribution and devotion in achieving academic excellence in food innovation and product design by building bridges and creating dialogue with different cultures.What could be better than combining all these aspects in this unique cookbook prepared by FIPDes students?[…] All these qualities and initiatives make FIPDes an exemplary representative of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s Degree (EMJMD) program, which is part of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ program.” (Christine Voelkl, EACEA project advisor).

FIPDes is a two-year international master’s program coordinated by AgroParisTech and awarded the “Erasmus Mundus Success Story” label by the European Commission in 2018. This joint master’s degree program educates students from around the world who are interested in contributing to the development of innovative, sustainable, and healthy food products. Beyond the time students spend in the classroom, it is also a life experience and a catalyst for internationalization, both for students and for the educational community at AgroParisTech.

The book, published by AgroParisTech Éditions, is available for €24.