“How do I get into recipe development??”

It’s one of the pivots we get asked about the most, and the path to get there takes some serious weaving together of various skills. The wonderful Sophie Godwin is here to share her journey, demystifying the highs, lows and details of being a recipe developer – and telling us how you can get into the role yourself. And no, it’s not just a matter of testing the same recipe over and over until it tastes delicious. Recipe developing takes an insane amount of organisational skill and attention to detail, and a penchant for writing, to do it well. 

With a brilliant career working for BBC Good Food and MOB, she’s also ghost written 13 cookbooks and hundreds of recipes for countless brands. And her own debut cookbook, Sundays, is out soon. Read on for Sophie’s experience writing 12 recipes a day (!), being in full xmas mode in July, testing recipes out of season with sh*t tomatoes, and her invaluable advice for you to get there yourself.

How did you get into your current role?

I have been my own boss for the past 7 years, after working at BBC Good Food where I was a cookery writer for 3 years and honed my skills in recipe development.

I was lucky enough to be offered a full time role after a 3 month internship. I started as a recipe tester, which was an invaluable experience, cooking food from around the world, learning new skills, recipe styles, quantities and how to fix a problem. I then became a recipe writer, writing over 300 recipes and 1 book before going freelance.

Whilst freelance I ghost wrote 13 cookbooks and lots of recipes for countless brands, and last year my husband Adam and I set up our company Scramble LDN and my debut cookbook (in my own name!) Sundays, is out this September.

What’s the most unexpected thing about your role?

How far in advance writing projects often work. You can be in full Christmas mode in the middle of July.

What’s the best thing about it?

IDEAS!!! I love coming up with new recipe ideas. It’s what makes me most excited and when I’m at the start of a new project, I find myself completely in my own brain, doing other tasks on autopilot whilst my brain whizzes around thinking hmm harissa and… oooo what about a meatball macaroni minestrone…

My love of ideas is why ghostwriting appealed to me for so long. I love working to a brief – sometimes the tighter the perimeters, the more creative I feel.

What’s the worst thing?

Buying out of season ingredients to test with. There’s nothing worse than writing a gorgeous summer salad recipe celebrating tomatoes, whilst the ones you’re actually using are underripe and come from the other side of the world. Oh and the washing up – OBVS.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I actually split my time between being a chef (catering and private jobs) and recipe writing so no 2 days are the same, however if I am in the middle of a writing project my usual day will start with some logistics: where am I up to with the project? How many recipes have been written/tested etc. I then outline the recipes to write for the day.

If I am having a day of purely writing, I write between 8-12 recipes a day. This is quite a lot, but I have been doing it for years and so quantities are kind of stored in a mad place in my brain (i.e. a 400g tin is enough for 2 people). I always write before I test. I find writing creatively to be stimulating and when I am sitting at my laptop I can think more freely about how to create the twist that gives the recipe the edge, rather than when I am cooking where I’m often on autopilot.

I feel like being a chef lends itself to this method, as when I am cheffing, I never measure (unless baking) and cook according to instinct and I often take inspiration from this when I sit down to write.

If I am testing I will write 4-6 recipes in the day and then test 2, one for lunch and one for dinner. I find that it’s important to cook the recipe and eat it as a whole meal rather than just as a recipe test because sometimes things that taste unreal on the first mouthful can actually be a bit rich and need more acidity once you’ve eaten a whole bowl of it!

What advice would you give to someone hoping to get into your profession?

Start writing. It’s one thing to be an amazing cook; recipe development requires a different mindset. In comparison to the rest of my life it is surprisingly methodical, you have to think about the best possible way for someone to cook something with the tastiest outcome. Yes you want it to be delicious, and just as important (in my opinion) is that it is easy, accessible and achievable. You want someone to get that sense of satisfaction when they have made something they are buzzing about.

Everyone has their own writing style and their own way of explaining how to cook something, and the only way you learn this is through writing.

Oh, and hustle. If someone doesn’t answer your email the first time, email again. Who cares if they think you’re annoying. I only started working with MOB because I literally just reached out to Ben. Be brave.

What’s the best piece of advice that YOU were given?

Recently the best piece of advice I have been given is to not be afraid to promote yourself. Own your shit. You’re creative and amazing and have banging food and ideas up your sleeve so learn to shout about it.

From a writing perspective it was to think about how someone actually cooks something: what is the action? Not everything needs to read “add” to the pan. Detail is always best.

What did you want to be when you grew up? And how is this similar?

I always loved writing and being whimsical and romantic. Doing English Lit I was determined to drink black coffee only because it went with the writer’s aesthetic LOL. So maybe a novelist or a poet, but I only write averagely good poems and that’s only when I’m sad so it wasn’t going to be that, and I’ve loved cooking for as long as I remember so recipe developing makes sense really.

Tell us the weirdest thing you’ve had to do in the course of your work.

A whole cookbook on baked beans. Seriously.