The Educated Palate exists because I wanted to learn about flavors and couldn't find a product to help me. I've loved to cook all my life and at age 47 decided to go to Culinary School. During that time, I had the opportunity to attend a tasting with a visiting chef and cookbook author, Barbara Tropp, and her message of "Know your ingredients! Taste everything!" truly hit home.

 

But how do you learn all the different ingredients available?. In cooking classes, students prepare and taste foods from many cuisines. However, they can't always taste the individual flavors. You can't chew a bay leaf and if you chew rosemary, it tastes like a Christmas tree. So how do you know your ingredients? 

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My idea for The Educated Palate Culinary Flavors Basic Training Kit was born. I contacted flavor companies but no one understood what I wanted, until I found Joyce Kiley of Flavor Sciences. 

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Once we had a prototype, I brought in Rachel Herz, PhD at Brown University, a leading researcher in the field of olfaction. Dr. Herz refined the process to make the flavors even more effective and joined The Educated Palate as a full partner. She is now Co-Director of The Educated Palate and Head of Developmental Research.  

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Kathleen McCann
Co-Director
Founder

Dr. Rachel Herz
Co-Director