Margaret A. Lawson

D.D. WILLIAMSON SUPPORT CENTER
VICE PRESIDENT, SCIENCE & INNOVATION, LOUISVILLE, KY
FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY MEMBER

I am fortunate to have been one of the early members of the Research Chefs Association (RCA), perhaps one of the first food scientists to join and value bringing two distinctly different disciplines together for a synergistic outcome. Recognizing the culinary techniques and ingredients that create authentic flavors has enriched my product-development creations, as well as my personal life. From my RCA chef associates I have learned to understand the time constraints, challenges and joys of “the back of the house” commercial kitchen.

A highlight was experiencing the birth of Culinology® in Havana while I was studying what changes were put in place to feed the Cuban population after the collapse of the Soviet Union. When arranging my itinerary, I asked to spend time at the university with the food science department, plus I wanted to meet with a local chef. After I familiarized the food science professor and the most famous chef in Cuba with Culinology, the conversation became animated as joint ideas emerged from two people from two different fields that previously had not thought about collaboration. It was magic to watch and listen.

Culinology will not replace sound science or the culinary arts talent, but should build on the strengths and expertise of both.

BIRTHPLACE: Santa Ana, CA;

SCHOOL DAZE: M.S. and B.S., Food Science & Technology, University of California, Davis;

CAREER MOVES: Hunt Wesson Foods; Ralston Purina, food technologist; Merck, Kelco Division, food applications manager, senior pioneering research chemist, staff chemist; New Zealand Milk Products, research manager; FMC Food Ingredients Division, global business development manager, technology manager, group leader of product development; T. Hasegawa, technical services manager; D.D. Williamson, vice president of science & innovation;

TOUGHEST PRODUCT I’VE WORKED ON: Low-fat foam products—removing the crystalline fat from existing foam desserts and sponge bakery food products without changing the consumer acceptability was a tremendous challenge;

PRODUCT I’M MOST PROUD OF: It is exciting to see gellan gum in commercial food products around the world;

MOST-EXCITING INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT: Culinology—it is thrilling to see a concept that I long felt was essential turn into an acceptable branch of the product-development process;

MOST-CHALLENGING PART OF MY JOB: Time—there is never enough time to fully study all aspects of a new ingredient or investigate the nuances to utilizing the ingredients in a range of food systems;

CAREER HIGH POINT: Being elected and serving as the IFT president;

FAVORITE INGREDIENTS: On a commercial basis, xanthan gum, due to the marvelous water-controlling properties it imparts at an incredibly low usage level, and on a culinary basis, garlic;

BIGGEST INSPIRATION: Going to China in the 1980s and seeing how little was available in terms of food and consumer goods, then returning home to be overwhelmed by the number of choices we have on a daily basis, yet we are all living in the same world;

FANTASY FOOD SPLURGE: Homemade lemon custard ice cream in the afternoon, sitting outside on a warm summer day;

FAVORITE RESTAURANTS: Asiatique in Louisville, LeColonial in Chicago and La Diferencia in Tijuana, Mexico;

FAVORITE FOOD CITY: Definitely Louisville, KY;

IF I HADN’T BECOME A FOOD SCIENTIST, I’D BE: In hiking boots, picking up insects and tracking wild animals, then giving bonfire chats to the public while working as a naturalist in a national park;

FAVORITE MUSIC: Vicente Fernandez mariachi music ... plus I am a closet Elvis fan;

PETS: Missy, my sweet little East L.A. pound-adopted Maltese;

CURRENTLY READING: “Appetite for Life,” Julia Child’s biography.