Flavour combinations - structural analysis
Without neccesarily going into molecular cooking (although we could): does any literature / website / theory provide information on flavor / flavour combinations that go well together?
(ignoring texture at this time: I'm sure it's a contributing factor)
The palate 'likes' certain combinations of sweet, salty, fatty, etc., sure. And certain complex flavours are found in many different recipes - a result of tradition and empirical succes.
Examples:
- tomatoes, mozzarella, basil (generally: tomatoes and green herbs)
- soy / ginger
- carrots / celery (baked, often with bacon or a meat)
- strawberries / cream
etc. etc. etc.
The dream answer to this question would be some sort of map, visually grouping things, but that may not be possible in 2d.
Best Answer
I picked up The Flavour Thesaurus at the weekend. It is organised much like Roget's Thesaurus, and for each flavour has entries for several flavours that work well with it. Many entries have either recipes or suggestions. There is an ample index for cross-referencing. One thing to note is that the entries are written in quite a familiar style, some may find this annoying, but I thought that many of them hit the mark.
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What are the 4 flavor profiles?
Up until 2002, scientists recognized 4 'official' tastes: 1) salty; 2) sweet; 3) sour; and 4) bitter. However, in 2002 umami was crowned the fifth flavor. Umami simply means yummy in Japanese, and it's hard to describe what the flavor of umami tastes like.What flavor profiles go together?
TOP FLAVOR COMBINATIONS- Apple & cinnamon.
- Pumpkin/squash & spice/spicy.
- Fruit & punch.
- Lemon & Lime.
- Strawberry & banana.
- Tomato & basil.
- Chocolate & peanut butter.
- Garlic & herbs/herbal.
How do you Analyse flavors?
Analytical Methods The primary technique used in flavor analysis is gas chromatography, with and without mass spectrometry and olfactometry. Hall said that since most flavor and fragrance compounds are volatile, GC is the method of choice.How do you categorize flavors?
There are five universally accepted basic tastes that stimulate and are perceived by our taste buds: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.Building Loading - Loads and load combinations to SANS 10160 for an industrial building - SD424
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Answer 2
Check out a site called Food Pairing. They have excellent graphical visualizations of what combines well with given ingredients and also use common flavor profiles to help you determine appropriate substitutions. I think this is pretty close to the "map" you are asking for.
Khymos is a great resource as already mentioned.
Answer 3
I've followed the website http://khymos.org/ for a while now. Their tagline—molecular gastronomy and the science of cooking—pretty much sums up what they're about.
There are many resources on their site about the molecular reasons of why foods taste the way they do, why foods go well together, and how cooking processes work.
I find their TGRWT (They Go Really Well Together) section to be particularly interesting: http://blog.khymos.org/tgrwt/
Answer 4
I've seen a ton of recommendations for The Flavor Bible.
Answer 5
Also, cuuks (site) seems to be useful.
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