Verdish is a cooking app: you cook a recipe with what's left in your fridge, take a photo of your dish, and four judges score it out of 10. Each one has their own character, standards and way of talking. They rarely agree, and that's the point.
81, with her cat Pompon and a stained recipe notebook. The most generous of the four on appeal and on being true to the recipe: a dish that's filling and smells good has already done the job. Technique isn't her thing.
Generous on appetite
68, with the tallest hat in the kitchen. Technique is his business, and he's the toughest there: rough cooking or uneven cutting costs you dearly. Sparing with praise, not blind: show him perfect cooking and he'll give you a 9.
Uncompromising on technique
Édouard de Vallombreuse, purple polka-dot scarf and one half-closed eyelid. The toughest of the four on presentation and on being true to the recipe: he judges by restaurant standards and first asks whether the dish really is what it claims to be. That's why his 8 is worth something.
Hardest on the plate
29, cap on backwards and a stopwatch on his wrist. The most generous on appeal, he rewards visible effort. But he wants balance: an all-beige plate with no vegetables loses points with him.
Loves visible effort
Each judge scores your dish on four criteria, each out of 10:
| Criterion | Weight | What the jury looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Presentation | 30% | the plating: a clean plate, colour, composition |
| True to the recipe | 25% | does the dish look like the recipe it claims to be? |
| Technique | 25% | cooking, cutting, sauces |
| Appeal | 20% | how tempting the dish looks |
Each judge's score is the weighted average of those four criteria. The final score is the average of the four judges, to one decimal place. It's calculated by our servers, never taken as is from the judges. A beautiful dish that isn't the recipe can't make up for it with presentation: a judge's score never goes more than 3 points above their "true to the recipe" score.
It's the heaviest criterion. A clean rim, a touch of colour, a sauce placed rather than poured all over: these are often easy points. The Critic is the toughest here; Coach Max wants vegetables and colour.
The jury judges your photo: it can't taste. It looks at presentation, visible cooking, how close the dish is to the recipe and how tempting it looks. When it comes to taste, you're the expert: before sending, you can give yourself a taste score, shown next to the jury's and never mixed in.
When two judges are far apart, on one criterion or on their overall score, a duel kicks off: they argue over the sticking point, then you decide. Your choice never changes the score, but duel after duel, your team takes shape.
Transparency: the judges are characters; their opinions and scores are generated by artificial intelligence.
Leave your email: one message, on launch day. Android in late November, iPhone later.