FOOD PARING

The foodpairing method is designed to inspire chef, foodies, home cooks and food engineers. The method aids recipe design and provides new possible food combinations, which are theoretically sound on a the basis of their flavor. foodpairing provides possible food combinations, which are solely based on the intrinsic properties of the different food products, they are based on the flavor compounds which are present in the products. This results in possible combinations that are innovative and are not influenced or restricted by cultural and traditional context of the products. This independence occasionally results in surprising and unusual combinations, for example: endives in a dessert, white chocolate and caviar, chocolate and cauliflower. Even as they are unusual, these combinations are quite tasty, because the combined food products have flavor components in common. The foodpairing methodology opens a whole new world of possible food combinations.
Secondly, foodpairing is able to provide a basis for the success of traditionally settled food combinations. It is not a coincidence that the vast majority of the traditional top hit combinations, like bacon and cheese, asparagus and butter have many flavor components in common. By applying the foodpairing method to recipe design, the chance for successful combinations is certainly more likely.

History

Experimenting with salty ingredients and chocolate, Heston Blumenthal, chef of The Fat Duck, discovered that caviar and white chocolate are a perfect match.^[1] To find out why, he contacted François Benzi of Firmenich, the largest privately owned flavor house in the world. By comparing the flavor analysis of both foods, they found that caviar and white chocolate had major flavor components in common. At that time they stated a hypothesis that different foods will combine well together when they share major flavor components, and foodpairing was born.^[2] In 2007, a user-friendly platform for foodpairing was launched at Lo major de la gastronomia. It was a website where visitors could choose ingredients and view which other food products could go well it. In 2009, The Flanders Taste foundation organized a gastronomic symposium, The Flemish Primitives, completely dedicated to foodpairing. ^[3]

[edit] Methodology

Foodpairing starts with an analysis of a product, that is to be combined. The product’s flavor profile is determined with the aid of gas chromatography, which in most cases is coupled with a mass spectrometer (GC-MS). This analytical technique separates and identifies the various aroma compounds. The odorants are also quantified with other techniques. Key odorants can be identified by comparing the concentrations of the odorants with their respective flavor threshold. Key odorants are these compounds that you will effectively smell. They are defined as every compound that is present in concentrations higher than their specific flavor threshold.
Coffee contains 700 different aroma compounds. But in reality there are only a couple aromas important for the smell of coffee, because the most part of the aromas is present in concentrations that are not perceivable with the nose, they are present in concentrations, lower than their flavor threshold.^[4]
The key odorants are essential to compose the flavor profile of the given product. The resultant flavor profile is screened against a database of products, of which the flavor profile was previously determined. Products which have flavor components in common with the original ingredient are retained. These products could be combined with the original ingredient. With this information, a #foodpairing tree is build.

foodpairing tree

A foodpairing tree is a visual respresention for foodpairing. In the center is the chosen ingredient and around that are products that could be combined with it, according to the foodpairing theory. The products in the branches are clustered according to its food type. In a given cluster, the length of the branches represent the likelihood of success of the combination. Shorter branches generally results in stronger combinations. These trees are meant to inspire users to make new combinations and recipes. Only the theoretically most potent products are given in a foodpairing trees. When a specific product is not present in a tree, it does not mean that this product does not combine with the central ingredient.

Types of Foodpairing

New combinations

The essence of foodpairing is the practice of combining different foods that share the same major flavor components. Comparing the flavors of individual ingredients can result in new and unexpected combinations, such as strawberries paired with peas. This combination was adopted by Sang Hoon Degeimbre, chef of L’air du temps in Belgium.
Foodpairing can also be used to pair foods that don't match, such as chocolate and garlic. The trick is to search for a third food that has something in common with both chocolate and with garlic. One example is coffee. Coffee has flavor components in common with both garlic (Dimethyl disulfide) and with chocolate (Methyl pyrazine). Roasted chicory can be used in place of coffee, a combination used by Belgian chocolatier Dominique Persoone.

Interchangeability

Foods have specific flavors because they contain combinations of different flavor components. Basil tastes like basil because it contains both linalool and estragol. So if one wants to reconstruct the basil flavor without using any basil, one would search for a combination of other foods containing linalool (such as coriander) and estragol (such as tarragon). Foodpairing trees are handy tools for finding foods to combine to create the flavors one is looking for. In this way, basil can be reconstructed by combining coriander, tarragon, cloves, and laurel. Most of the flavor components of tomatoes are also found in strawberries. Because of these shared flavor components, in a dish of lobster with a tomato coulis, for example, one could replace the tomato with a strawberry coulis instead, because tomatoes and strawberries are interchangeable.^[3]