Food Product Development and Coursework

What this page covers

This unit is mostly mind maps. They look like real coursework: design briefs, task analyses, production plans and written evaluations. Many are linked to GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition and GCSE Food Technology.

Where to start

Begin with the mind map for a product for one person that a supermarket could sell to extend its cook/chill/frozen range. It shows how a brief is broken into a target age group and other design points. Next, open Production plan_1_1, which sets out making soda bread step by step, including a question about whether the dough is too sticky.

Then look at the two mind maps called Task Analysis. One lists cooking methods and equipment such as the oven, hob and food processor. The other lists supermarkets and bakeries and thinks about packaging and storage.

Product development examples

• Development of Sushi covers rice, nori, fillings and ways to modify the product, such as using less rice to reduce carbohydrate.
• Chicken and Mushroom Pie looks at reheating without losing texture, with ideas such as slitting the top so moisture can escape.
• Choux Buns and Mini cheesecake include nutritional information and ideas for developing the product further. The cheesecake map also covers cost and the functions of ingredients.

Many other maps name a single bake or dish, such as cake pops, tartlets and lemon meringue pie. They are useful for comparing how different people structure their ideas.

Using quizzes, flashcards and maps together

Read a map first, then test yourself. The quizzes are Food Tech and VRQ Practical exam kitchen larder. The Decorated Cakes flashcards ask about cake types, the gateaux method and raising agents. The Catering factors deck is a second set to use.

Teachers can use the maps as examples when discussing how to write an evaluation or a plan. The note on the course overview, made from a mind map, gives a quick outline.

Where this sits

This unit belongs to the strand Food Science and Product Development in Cooking and gastronomy. Pick a map close to your own project, then build your own version.