Culinary Research Volunteer (The Tiny Food Project: Alibag)
Location: Alibag / Mumbai
Duration: Project-Based, 3 months
Reports to: Project Lead
Start Date: January 8, 2025
About the Project
The Tiny Food Project: Alibag is a three-month collaboration between The Locavore and Tiny Miracles. The project works with a group of women in Alibag to explore food as a means of economic empowerment and community pride.
Through workshops, home-kitchen product trials, storytelling, and market linkages, the project aims to support participants in developing small-batch, community-led food products with viable pathways to reach local buyers.
This pilot will combine on-ground facilitation, food-based skill-building, and storytelling to document learnings and lay the groundwork for a longer-term replicable model of women-led, community-rooted food entrepreneurship grounded in sustainability, and self-reliance.
Role Overview
The Culinary Research Volunteer will support the Project Lead in the research, testing, and documentation of community-based food products. They will work closely with participating women to observe, record, and refine local recipes, ingredients, and processes while helping ensure that traditional knowledge and culinary heritage are preserved and celebrated.
This role is ideal for someone with a background or interest in culinary research, recipe development, or regional food documentation. Volunteers will be part of a small, hands-on team exploring how local ingredients and home-kitchen practices can evolve into viable food products for wider audiences.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Recipe & Product Research
- Document and analyse local recipes, preparation methods, and ingredient use shared by community participants.
- Support in adapting traditional recipes into standardised formats through structured observation and testing.
- Assist in developing basic documentation on quantities, cooking times, and consistency for small-batch production.
- Conduct simple shelf-life, taste, and texture observations during product trials.
Kitchen Trials & Facilitation Support
- Support the Project Lead in organising and facilitating recipe testing sessions in home kitchens.
- Help measure, record, and photograph each trial to capture process variations and outcomes.
- Coordinate ingredient and material requirements for each trial session in collaboration with Tiny Miracles’ team.
- Gather feedback from participants on taste, process comfort, and feasibility, and compile observations.
Documentation
- Maintain clear records of recipe iterations, community insights, and feedback from tasting sessions.
Candidate Attributes
We’re looking for volunteers who are:
- Passionate about food, local cuisines, and community-based food practices.
- Detail-oriented and organised in recipe documentation and process tracking.
- Comfortable working in non-urban kitchen environments and adaptive to field realities.
- Empathetic, patient, and respectful in community interactions.
- Collaborative, reliable, and able to work independently when required.
- Fluent in English and Marathi (preferred) for communication and translation support.
Bonus Skills
- Prior experience in culinary research, recipe development, or food product testing.
- Knowledge of food hygiene and safe handling practices.
- Experience with photography, food styling, or visual documentation.
What You’ll Gain
- Hands-on experience in community-based culinary research and recipe documentation.
- A chance to work alongside chefs, researchers, designers, and storytellers exploring local food systems.
- Develop hands-on experience in culinary research, recipe trials, and documenting local food traditions.
- The opportunity to be part of The Locavore’s broader network of collaborators working at the intersection of food, culture, and sustainability.
To apply now, fill the form here.
Deadline: Wednesday, 17 December 2025.
If you have any queries, reach out to connect@thelocavore.in