Chef Cohen Brings Flavor Innovation to Foodservice Operators

Recipe: Citrus Coconut Mushroom Ceviche Tostada

Q: What are your main responsibilities as Unilever’s corporate marketing chef?

Dana Cohen: There are a few main roles that I have. The first one is working with our research and development team on new innovations or any renovations [reformulations] as well. We recently went through and cleaned the labels of a lot of our savory products under the Knorr line. In addition to working with Knorr, I also work with Hellmann’s.

Another facet of my job is working closely with our marketing and digital teams, including writing website content such as a newsletter that goes out to our foodservice operators. I also work on recipe development and testing and working with all our new products as well as our existing ones to look at what’s trending and how our products can help address those trends for our operators.

The third aspect of my job is training—for our internal teams as well as for our operators. For example, I might do a webinar for our foodservice operators all about plant-based eating. Internally, I help teach a two-day culinary training [class] that all our employees go through where they get to know our products, cook with them, and make sure that they feel confident talking about and using them.

Q: Can you talk about the inspiration for the new line of Knorr’s Ultimate Intense Flavors?

Cohen: As a chef, you’re trying to create complex and deep flavors in every dish that you create, but sometimes that can be hard, whether it’s due to the ingredients that you have on hand or the level of skill that you have in your kitchen. These are all challenges and struggles that operators face every day. So, when the idea came about for Knorr Ultimate Intense Flavors, we really talked a lot about flavor dimensions and not just singular flavors. So, for example, chipotle or truffle oil are one-dimensional enhancements that chefs might use in their dishes. What we tried to do with this line of seasonings is to take those flavors that are difficult to get by using a technique or maybe it takes a really long time and you don’t have the bandwidth in the kitchen to build those flavors and be able to easily add that to your dishes.

For example, we have a food truck operator who has a smoker at one of his locations but, due to space constraints, doesn’t have them in his other locations. When we presented Knorr’s Ultimate Intense Flavors Deep Smoke seasoning he was like, “This amazing because I don’t have the room for that equipment.” Also, with smoking you don’t always get the same result every time—it can depend on many factors like the temperature or the cut of the meat. Deep Smoke is an easy way to impart that flavor and get the same result every time.

Or, it may be an ingredient that’s more difficult to source or can be cost prohibitive for an operator. For example, we feature yuzu in Knorr’s Ultimate Intense Flavors Citrus Fresh. An operator may not bring in yuzu juice if they are only using it in one menu item, but if they have a shelf-stable product that can be used here and there and adds a pop of flavor and excitement, then we are making it accessible for chefs to have ingredients that they didn’t have before.

I like to tell chefs to use the products as an ingredient. So, if you look at something like Worcestershire sauce or hot sauce, you’re not trying to make that the flavor of your dish. You’re incorporating it into your dish to add a little something. That’s how the Intense Flavors products should be used.

Q: What other benefits does the new line of flavors offer foodservice operators?

Cohen: There's the consistency, being able to access ingredients that you may not have had access to before, but also, the versatility of the product because it's shelf stable. So, it can stay out on the line. If the line cook is making a sauce and wants to add a little bit of the Wild Mushroom Earth to bring a meatiness to a sauce or to a dish, it’s easy to incorporate. The fact that it’s liquid means it doesn’t need to be dissolved or whisked in or anything like that. Also, it can be added at any stage during the cooking process. So, it doesn’t need to be cooked to a certain temperature. You can finish with it. You can marinate with it. There are endless opportunities. We thought we were going to have to teach our operators how to use the products, but while we’re learning and playing with the products, our operators are, at the same time, teaching us all these cool and unique ideas.

We just had an operator who thought outside the box with these truffle Parmesan fries. They’re adding truffle oil, avocado oil, and the Roast Umami to a spray bottle, and when the fries come out of the fryer, they’re spraying the mixture on and tossing with the Parmesan and some fresh parsley. That was something none of our chefs had even thought about. So, it’s interesting how it’s sort of creating this community where we’re all learning from each other.

Q: How do you keep up to date on the latest flavor trends? And how do you work to implement those for Unilever?

Cohen: A lot of the Knorr products are really building blocks for dishes. So, if you look at our bases and sauces, all of those lend well to adding trendy flavors to them, which is something that we do all the time. I look out for all those trends, whether it be a flavor or technique to be able to bring that into what we do every day.

In terms of innovations and coming up with new things, due to the success of the first five Ultimate Intense Flavors that we launched, we will have another flavor coming out early next year. We have also been working on future flavors based on what might be trending in the industry.

Citrus Coconut Mushroom Ceviche Tostada
Authentic Peruvian flavors and textures come alive in this dish of roasted wild mushrooms tossed in a sauce of bright citrus and creamy coconut milk. Topped on a crispy tostada with avocado mousse.

Roast the Mushrooms
Ingredients:

• 2 lb wild mushrooms, fresh
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground

Preparation:

1. Clean and chop the mushrooms.
2. Place mushrooms in a bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper.
3. Lay the mushrooms in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast in a 400℉ oven for 10–12 min or until golden brown. Set aside.

Prepare the Ceviche
Ingredients:

• ¼ cup red onion, small dice
• ½ cup Roma tomato, small dice
• 2 tbsp cilantro, chiffonade
• 2 tbsp aji amarillo puree
• ¾ cup coconut milk
• 6 tbsp Knorr Ultimate Intense Flavors Citrus Fresh

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and fold in the roasted mushrooms.
2. Refrigerate until needed.

Prepare the Avocado Mousse
Ingredients:

• 2 avocados
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup Knorr Ultimate Intense Flavors Citrus Fresh
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp cilantro, fresh, cleaned
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper

Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree for at least 1 minute.
2. Refrigerate until needed.

Finish the Dish

1. Spread avocado mousse on each tostada.
2. Top with a portion of mushroom ceviche.
3. Garnish with cilantro. Serve 2 tostadas per portion.