Engineering students at ENSAIA have won a food innovation prize for the CarréLéon, which enables cooks to season without using salt. The tablets do not contain salt and are made up of mainly dried vegetables (65%) and cocoa butter. Professor Catherine Humeau, one of the research teachers mentoring the students says that “In the sweet aisle there are many things to cook with, but not in the savoury aisle, except for sauces, broths, products for cooking in tinfoil or stock cubes”.
Please click here for the photo
Please click here for the photo
A student thought of the idea when watching a chocolate advert, but the CarréLeon is not meant for munching on (although the beetroot, carrot and garlic one is apparently delicious!). The product is used for cooking with- for example for making healthy fromage blanc based dips to eat with tortillas or carrots. They can also be used to flavour paninis, croque-monsieurs, or be grated into a salad.
One of the students, Pierre Peythieu, says that “CarréLéon corresponds with new market trends, “natural, healthy, homemade” and fulfils consumer demand for transparency. People want to know what is on their plate and want the list of ingredients to be short and legible.” It took six months to develop the concept into the finished product.
The CarréLéon will be present at the International Food Tradeshow in Paris from the 16th-20th October, but it won’t yet be on the shelves and may even end up being handed over to an industrialist.