(02/20/26) BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU AgCenter Food Innovation Institute (FOODii) and the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences are back in 2026 with the Unlocking Secrets of Food Science series.

The first event of the year — Let’s Get Dipping: Homemade Dips and Chips — is a flavorful, hands-on demonstration featuring homemade tortilla chips paired with fresh salsa and creamy queso. This session is presented in collaboration with Chuck Boeneke, AgCenter Dairy Store.

The event will take place on Friday, March 20, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. in the test kitchen at the Animal and Food Sciences Laboratory Building, located at 39 Forestry Lane on the LSU campus.

Participants will learn to prepare homemade tortilla chips, salsa and queso while exploring ingredient functions, the food chemistry behind textures and flavors and essential culinary techniques such as knife skills and proper heating methods.

“We will talk about different ways to make salsa and queso, highlighting how ingredients and processing steps influence flavor, texture and overall quality,” said Evelyn Watts, AgCenter and Louisiana Sea Grant seafood extension specialist.

Watts will be joined by AgCenter consumer food safety specialist Shannon Coleman and Ashley Gutierrez, assistant director of FOODii — each contributing their unique food science expertise.

Expert insight

• Learn the science behind salsa, including how acidity from tomatoes, vinegar and lime juice impacts flavor and freshness.
• Understand how cooking choices — such as roasting and simmering — affect salsa’s depth and aroma.
• Explore the science of queso — how milk proteins melt and stretch, how emulsifying salts create a smooth, stable sauce and why temperature control prevents graininess and separation.

Hands-on experience

• Prepare salsa and observe how ingredient ratios influence heat, brightness and balance.
• Practice making your own fresh tortilla chips.
• Create a homemade queso dip while observing how heat, fat content and emulsifiers work together to achieve the perfect creamy consistency.
• Discover simple, modern kitchen techniques that enhance flavor, improve food safety and refine the texture of your chips, salsa and queso.

The cost to attend is $60, and each participant will leave with their own batch of chips, salsa and queso. Register at https://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/agutierrez/articles/page1736634980231 or contact Ashley Gutierrez at AGutierrez@agcenter.lsu.edu for more information.

Space is limited, and registration is required. Registration closes Friday, March 13.

Watts said the series will be offered quarterly. Future topics include butter, biscuits, hot cocoa and churros.

The series hub, which contains previous demonstration handouts, can be found at https://www.lsuagcenter.com/articles/page1770759260627.