Chloe René: “Finding your food persona can be one of the hardest things to figure out.”

I recently had the pleasure to chat to Chloe René, 26, a London-based recipe developer at Mob. In this interview, Chloe talks about her journey of becoming a recipe developer, where she gets her inspiration and food identity from, and the challenges in the industry of recipe development.

Where did your career in cooking begin?

I went to culinary school in 2016 because I liked cooking, and went to the Cordon Bleu in London. But I ended up having a terrible time. They were so technique based, taking out rulers to measure your brunoise – I just found it quite boring. And I hadn’t realised until I started that when they say it’s French cooking, it really is just that. You’re not learning anything else. I’m sure the French have great food, but also look at any other cuisine – why are we just making such a big deal out of French food? So culinary school was just not for me, and I left with no idea what to do next. At Cordon Bleu, they train you to go straight into restaurants after graduating, and that was just not what I wanted to do.

Why is that?

We would simulate restaurant environments at the school, and even that was just too hectic. They’d make up a menu, you’d be given two or three menu items, get all your mise ready, and then they’d go, right, we need one fish, one chicken, one of them has a shellfish allergy – I was just sweating! From that moment I realised, yeah, restaurant life is not for me. I don’t do well with stress. When I’m under pressure, you could be talking at me and nothing’s going in [laughs]. And I also didn’t like the whole “Yes chef!”, “Oui chef!” mentality.

What got you into cooking initially?

I think the reason I really got into food was my mum. She loves cooking and always cooks, every day. We’re originally from the Seychelles, and when she came to Switzerland, that was how she reconnected with the Seychelles and how she taught me about where I come from: Through the language and the food. And because Geneva is so international, she would constantly connect with people from literally everywhere and learn about their foods too. She would come home and start mingling the cuisines and flavours. There was a constant curiosity about food.

So with your curiosity for food, you embarked on your journey at a top culinary school in London – but ended up not having a very nice experience. I imagine that must have been quite disappointing.

It’s true, it really breaks my heart how bad of an experience it was. Now looking back, I probably should have gone somewhere other than Cordon Bleu. They had a good reputation, so I thought it would get me somewhere. But when I hear of friends who went to other culinary schools, they came out so much more well-rounded, learning about things like food styling, food writing, and recipe development as potential career choices.

So what was next?

I went back home to Geneva, started applying for a bunch of restaurants – and no one wanted me. It just seemed impossible for me to get a job. So when Covid hit, I started to get into recipe development more seriously. I thought to myself then, one day in my life I want to do a cookbook. Writing recipes was the one thing in culinary school I genuinely enjoyed. So I thought, fine, I might as well start now.

How did you go about doing that?

I started by making my own website, and because I had unlimited time on my hands during lockdown, I was on Instagram making anything I wanted, ice creams, sourdoughs, cookies, anything. Then I started writing down the recipes, researching properly, and putting them on my website. The website got no traffic, obviously. But by the end of the lockdowns, I had maybe around thirty, forty recipes. And so, suddenly, I had a portfolio.

What was your first job as a recipe developer?

After the lockdowns and several applications to anything related to recipe development, I ended up getting an job offer at a recipe box delivery company in London, so that was the big move around three years ago.

What was it like working there?

Well, with recipe boxes, you are trying to emulate home cooks as much as possible. You’re making recipes for people who don’t really have any experience or passion for cooking. And the customers they cater for don’t tend to be very experimental. It’s very formulaic. I was pretty unhappy there. After all, my whole aim had been to do something creative. But eventually I got the job I have now as a recipe developer at Mob. I had always wanted to work for Mob and had applied like three times before I finally got the job.

What’s it like developing recipes at Mob?

It’s so much more creative. And because content is part of my job now as well, I learned a lot about styling food and how important it is to have your own niche. I had never thought much about finding my food persona and figuring it out can be really difficult. When you start out in recipe development, you want to do anything and everything, but it’s actually much more helpful to figure out a profile and think about what types of recipes someone would go to you for, specifically.

So, to basically Ottolenghify yourself.

Completely! He really understood what it means to have a food persona. But it can be one of the hardest things to figure out.

What, then, is your food persona?

I think a lot of it is related to my childhood. Growing up, I naturally got a lot of Seychellois influence from my parents. But being in such an international city and going to an international school, I was surrounded by a circle of people from every corner of the globe, and each of my friends were taught about their cultural backgrounds via the food their families cooked for them. From a young age, I would go to a friend’s house and discover new flavours, and I think that has influenced what I do now. I like to take inspiration from everywhere and put it together to make just really good, tasty food. I wouldn’t say I make a specific type of food, everything is some kind of fusion and mish mash, and I think that’s a reflection of my childhood and of me.

What would you consider to be the purpose of your job?

My biggest aim is for people to learn or experience something new. Whether that’s a new ingredient, a new cuisine, a new technique, anything. Especially now when ingredients are more and more accessible, people can more easily experience a new cuisine. That being said, I don’t think I am someone who can ever cook something fully authentic to a particular cuisine; whatever I make, it’s always my version of a dish. It’s authentic to me and hopefully tastes great. And I want people to experience that.

So you don’t claim to provide cultural authenticity but rather point out where the inspiration came from and how you made it your own.

Exactly. For example, there were these noodles I made which were inspired by a dish I had in Malaysia, and when I started developing the recipe I thought, I can’t ever recreate that perfectly; I’m no authority in Malaysian cooking and I only tasted it once. But when recreating a dish, I tend to work with what elements I find most memorable. I may think about the qualities I remember rather than exact ingredients, then refer to a traditional version, and see how the two overlap. From there I can adapt it to a recipe that someone in the UK or elsewhere can recreate with the ingredients they most likely have available. I don’t want to completely Westernise food, but I have to remember that in order for someone to actually cook my food, the recipe needs to be accessible.

What challenges do you see in recipe development?

I think with social media, it’s an easy mistake to think that content creators are recipe developers, and vice versa. Not everyone can make good content, but also not every content creator can make good recipes. Visual content is the main marketing tool for a recipe, so if you’re a good content creator, there is an immediate trust, but when you try to cook the recipe, it doesn’t always work. So clearly, the emphasis is put on the wrong thing, on the content and marketing rather than on the recipe itself. It dilutes the craft. As a recipe developer now, it’s often not enough to just write good recipes and be a good cook, but you need to be able to film videos, style food, and market yourself.

Were there ever any challenges working in recipe development as a woman?

I don’t think it’s as much of a problem for women as it is for people of colour. Diversity in the food industry, especially when it comes to recipe development and food styling, is really lacking. A lot of people in this industry are very privileged. I too am very privileged to be in this industry, and most of us are only working in it because we can afford to do so. It’s not a high-paying job and you need to know people to get your foot in the door. And because it’s such a badly paid job with little security, you don’t see many people of colour. If you have life to pay for and you need something stable, you can’t afford to gamble going into an industry like this.

It makes it all the more ironic that food platforms and food magazines are more and more intent on not just focusing on Western cuisine, or they worry about properly representing “authentic” dishes from other parts of the world and diversifying their recipes, yet the representation remains largely white and middle-class.

That’s what’s so sad about it. You would gain so much from having a diverse team in food. The fact that it’s still not like that is alarming. So I think unless you are in a position where you can hire, train, and pay someone to do recipe development, there is very little you can do other than highlight other people’s cuisines and sharing the work of others as much as possible. And diversity doesn’t just have to mean colour. It’s also employing people with different skills, restaurant chefs, food stylists, anything, to have that level of diversity in your team too. But I think there are now more voices that are pushing for this, organisations like Be Inclusive Hospitality which boost and celebrate people of colour in the food industry. There is progress. But when you’re a company and you are in any way profiting from cultures from around the world, you have a responsibility.

Where do you see yourself going forward?

I want a cookbook. I want to write a cookbook that highlights the food and the flavours of the Seychelles. I think it’s so underrepresented – well, is it even represented? Food in the Seychelles is such a great mix of cuisines, a combination of all the best things. People often just think of the Seychelles as a small beach destination, but there’s so much more to it. So a cookbook would be the next big thing. But for now, I want to continue developing recipes and just learn, you know? Eat something new, go to a new restaurant, try a new recipe, it’s so inspiring. And to be able to use and take inspiration from everything is so fun, so I just want to continue.

Finally, do you have any advice for people who want to get into recipe development?

Continue cooking, write your recipes down and publish your recipes, just do it. We live in a time where you don’t need to be working for a company to do that. Social media, as much as I hate it sometimes, really is your gateway. If you want to do it, you can do it. Cook, write down your recipes, publish them, and someone will see them. Even if it’s just one person, it’s good enough. Nothing else matters.  

Aside from her work at Mob, you can find Chloe on her Insta and her blog.