umami5

December 19, 2018

I've registered an account with them but it is pending for several days now.

I will send them an email.

Thanks

December 14, 2018

I can't find this book anywhere online!?

November 28, 2018

Has anyone come across a digital version of Practical Professional Cookery (revised 3rd edition) H.L. Cracknell & R.J. Kaufmann.

I am using this as the textbook for my culinary arts students and a digital version would come in very handy for creating notes and handouts.

July 21, 2013

At one extreme, food pairings come from an unfortunate collision between France's culinary genius and their penchant for bureaucracy. They laid down rules so that even miserable cooks could produce appropriately conventional results. One cannot think clearly about food pairings until one is free from these yokes. The idea that there is a "food pairing" body of knowledge is the unfortunate spawn of this collision.

Hi Syzygies,

You have made some very interesting points. I wouldn't see the collision of "France's culinary genius and their penchant for bureaucracy" as unfortunate but rather the opposite. I am looking at the idea that the foods were paired together for a reason, back then they just "went" together or "worked well" together, but is there an actual scientific reason behind these pairings? Can we show that the "rules" laid down were actually right because of any scientific justification?

I want to know the scientific reasoning for food pairings, not set down by any institution, foods you would never consider pairing, "I would never have thought of that" kind of combinations.

Like the idea of nutritional complementarity is something that science proved, after the body had discovered it.

July 21, 2013

I filled out the survey - note that it forces you to choose one of the named options even when you want to fill out Other, so twice I had to pick one of the checkboxes and then point out that I wasn't actually selecting it under Other.
What struck me was the lack of Mediterranean flavor combinations... lemon, thyme, olive oil, rosemary...

Hi Patrickamory,

I hadn't realized that but 1 or 2 people did use the same method to highltight that error to me.

I wanted to avoid highlighting any one particular regions food pairings through the survey so I did keep it to basic flavour pairings, although thyme and olive oil were a selection in different questions and the option of other was intended for respondents to express a persons personal tastes and cultural preferences.

Thanks for the help

July 20, 2013

Last night we had a very enjoyable degustation menu cooked by a newly arrived chef from France (via a stint in the UK at Hibiscus as head chef), Guillaume Zika.
The dessert he served was exceptional. It was a malt ice cream served with rhubarb and beetroot. The taste combination was exceptional and not one I've thought of or seen before.

that sounds like and interesting combination all-right. I really love the taste of those foods but have not tried them together. Do you have a picture of the dish?

Here is a picture of a dessert I had recently at Frantzen/Lindeberg it was composed of beetroot, blackberries, liquorice and balsamic vinegar (presentation pic, picture 2 ) an excellent dish

July 20, 2013

Thanks for the info rgruby (Geoff)

I have looked into most of those publications but I haven't seen the Lucky Peach article or the piece on synthetic flavours that you mention. I will certainly look into these.

Thanks again

Cheers

July 19, 2013

Hi Mjx,
I have seen some "interesting" references to banana and ketchup on Foodpairing and the Huffington post aslo mentioned it in an article.
It will be interesting to see if I can create a dish that works for people!!
Do you know whether they share any flavour-bearing molecules, as in the example you gave previously, of caviar and white chocolate? Although I can't comfortably wrap my head around this combination, I'm fascinated by the idea that this could yield something palatable, or even better, delicious.

Hi Mjx,

Using the foodpairing explorer I input fresh banana as the key ingredient and it displays a tree that shows boiron tomato coulis and fresh tomato among other flavours to pair with banana.

I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work yet but it will be interesting to experiment. I have a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes which I can also try in tastings

July 19, 2013

. . . .
The proposed new flavour pairings are:
1. Banana + Tomato + Peppermint + Strawberry + Bergamot
. . . .
>These flavours can actually go together in a dish, it is all about finding a good/correct balance. The ratios at which the foods pair well will vary significantly.
I am going to create a dish that incorporates all of these and I will be doing some tasting workshops to gauge the acceptability.
I would really like to hear your report on that combo.
I don't doubt you could work them all together in a dish, but when I think about their flavours, regions where each predominates, and various culinary cultures, it feels forced and kind of questionable (sort of like putting Darth Vader, Wolverine, Hello Kitty, Mad Max, and Bertie Wooster together in a room; you could write that book, but...).
What makes this seem like a good idea, or at least be palatable enough to be interesting? I'm not being sarcastic: you've clearly thought about this, and I'm curious about the sequence of ideas behind this.

Hi Mjx,

I have seen some "interesting" references to banana and ketchup on Foodpairing and the Huffington post aslo mentioned it in an article.

It will be interesting to see if I can create a dish that works for people!!

July 19, 2013

Umami, just a couple of question on your above 5 listed factors.
How do you define "comparable flavor compounds?" What do caviar and white chocolate have in common?
Under culture or religion: what do you mean by "can't taste?" That sounds peculiar, and implies that cultural history trumps new experiences. Unless you live on a desert island and don't have any social contacts you will be exposed to new tastes and flavor pairings that you never had access to or simply never tasted before. Some of these new sensations will be exciting and positive, some not so much, depending upon about a million variables.
How much a particular pairing might be loved by virtue of it's nostalgia factor doesn't dictate whether anyone else will appreciate it when they finally discover it. I never ate a mayo-cheese-pickle on white bread sandwich until I was 50. Nor did I ever eat peanut butter slathered on a stick of celery. One I adore, one I find totally unappealing. Seems to me that if you are open to new experiences it won't matter how "personal" any given taste is; it will become your personal experience as soon as you like or don't like it.

Hi Katie,

Thanks again for adding to the discussion.

In relation to the comparable flavours, e.g. Caviar and white chocolate, it is the reasons given by Nickrey above and investigated by Heston. Caviar and white chocolate contain similar trimethylamines. This was the "Eureka" moment for Heston which started the analysis of other foods to compare compounds.
I probably should have been clearer in my "can't taste" statement, and again Nickrey was correct in his description, I was thinking of religion here and the fact that people cannot taste or pair certain foods.
The point of nostalgia is that it is so individual, it can bring you back to a fleeting moment in time (Good or bad), the smell of your grandmothers baked bread, your mothers fresh raspberry jam, the burning of oak leaves in you neighbourhood. They bring you back in time and that one experience can never be replicated for someone else. They can appreciate the pairing of the foods or the taste, but not for the same specific reason that you do. A rhubarb tart with custard will bring me back to my mothers kitchen when I was 10, it can bring someone else to a different point in time and a different memory.

July 18, 2013

How do you separate true flavor pairings from things that have an emotional grip or are seasonally available at the same time? Chicken and corn would not be considered a favorite pairing in the middle of winter unless you count fried chicken with a side of cornbread, but in BBQ season in the summer they are certainly linked in many minds and few people would say they don't sit happily on the same plate. I associate them together with new world soups south of the border.
What about cultural factors? I ate very little pork growing up in NY. The only time my parents ate pork was when they used Italian sausage as part of a tomato based spaghetti sauce. As for applesauce I would never associate it with pork, only with potato pancakes or being sick.Then I moved to New Mexico, where red or green chile is rarely far from any pork dish so I tend to think of spicy with pork rather than sweet. In North Carolina I was served country ham with a side of cooked apples; very salty with a side of sweet--yummy. As someone implied above, if you live somewhere that you harvest apples and do in your pigs in the fall, that would make for a likely pairing.
Mention was made of garlic, coffee and chocolate in combo. Those three ingredients are often added together to meat rubs, or various pots of southwestern style beans and/or chili, often with pork. As for bananas and tomatoes I can't imagine a more awful combination no matter what else is included or how it is prepared. Run for the hills!

Hi Katie,

Thank you for your input and you have raised some excellent points here.

I don't think that you do separate emotionally connected/paired foods or geographically paired foods. They are all important for different reasons, however foods strongly connected to memory or emotion are very personal and not easy for others to experience.

This is a section from my thesis introduction:

There are several factors which contribute to food/flavour pairing;

Seasonality – grouse and cepes
Personal taste – truffle and eggs. Some people just don’t like them and not all people have equally sensitive olfactory receptors, approximately 33% of the population cannot smell truffles (Barham 2001)
Comparable flavour compounds – caviar and white chocolate, pork liver and jasmine
Culture or religion – cannot taste certain food pairings such as pork and apple sauce for Judaism
Geography – Nattō (Japanese fermented beans) and rice, dashi and umami

It is estimated that 20% of our gustatory experience comes from taste and the other 80% comes from smell and aroma.

Smell and aroma are some of the main reasons for memory recollection. (Proust's madeleine)

Grant Achatz uses burning oak leaves in one of his courses to evoke a memory of Fall.

I am basing my study on Northern European/American food pairing preferences, but i will be acknowledging the pairings form other societies/cultures.

I look forward to experimenting with my banana and tomato dish!! :unsure:

It's all about the balance!?

July 17, 2013

Some of the unusual pairings that people have tried (from the survey

Dill & Celery in a sweet dessert
Elderflower & mackerel
Douglas fir & rhubarb
Chocolate & broad bean
Beef & coffee
Chocolate & parmesan cheese

July 17, 2013

Banana + Tomato + Peppermint + Strawberry + Bergamot
This combination can cause problems to people who suffer of hyperacidity. Banana, tomato, strawberry - this all, especially when they come together - might be too agressive or even cause allergies. Did anyone try this all to cook together?

These flavours can actually go together in a dish, it is all about finding a good/correct balance. The ratios at which the foods pair well will vary significantly.

I am going to create a dish that incorporates all of these and I will be doing some tasting workshops to gauge the acceptability.

July 17, 2013

Done. A question for you, though... Is chicken and corn a pairing in England? It isn't, particularly, in the States, although no one would sneer at you if you served it there. But it's certainly not in the "roast pork and applesauce" pairing class.

Thank you for completing the survey.

It's not a pairing that would get a lot of use but it is certainly a pairing that I have seen and works well.

Think of the old "Chicken Maryland"

July 17, 2013

My thesis "Working Title: An investigation into food pairing and why certain foods and flavours complement each other (In Western Society)"

I have designed a short 10 question survey for now and I would very much appreciated if you could take the time to fill out this survey and share it for me.

Thank you

June 25, 2013

My question about food pairing is that pairing food mostly does not work without adding a few other seasonings.
dcarch

For me I find that the exercise is does work in general but as with any cooking, it is about creating a balanced dish using this information available as a guide?

June 25, 2013

Look at Flavornet, Volatile Compounds in Food Database. Also check www.thegoodscentscompany.com . Do a site search in Google for what you want to look for ( site:www.thegoodscentscompany.com [the foodstuff you want to search for])

Hi nickrey,

Thanks, I have been looking at Flavornet and VCF. I will check out the www.thegoodscentscompany.com site also.

Thanks you

June 25, 2013

I have the Flavour thesaurus http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flavour-Thesaurus-Niki-Segnit/dp/0747599777/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1372099610&sr=1-1&keywords=the+flavour+thesaurus which is quite good, but according to the reviews I read it was the bees knees. It isn't as comprehensive as I would have liked. I use it mostly for checking on something I might have in the cupboard/fridge and want different ideas of how to use it,.

I have that book too but it seems to be based on the authors opinion rather than on any scientific fact, which is ok but not exactly what I'm after

June 24, 2013

I hope I'm not going to drive you crazy with this. Roast pork would be hot and and somewhat dry, because of the roasting. Apples are cool and wet, so they would balance out the pork. So, yes, I'm betting the pairing initially had something to do with their effect on the humoral system, not to mention they are both products of fall, and taste good together!

Hi SylviaLovegren,

Thank you for all your suggestions, and no you will not drive me crazy!

It seems that food pairing based on flavour similarities is more of a European/N.American way of combining foods and that S.American/Asian food pairing do not follow this trend but more the yin yang combinations

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/426217/flavour-networks-shatter-food-pairing-hypothesis/

June 24, 2013

The Flavor Bible seems to speak to what you're interested in. I don't own it and haven't read it, but it's a title that has intrigued me - but also made me a bit suspicious. It seems to be well reviewed by customers though.

HI IndyRob,

I have the Flavor Bible and I will be going through it shortly with the view of using it as part of my Lit. review also

thanks

June 24, 2013

There's this book that I was given as a gift but haven't done more then skim through it. http://www.amazon.com/Taste-Buds-Molecules-Science-Flavor/dp/1118141849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372035858&sr=8-1&keywords=molecule+food
3. Roast Chicken + Corn + Parsley

Is corn a traditional european item? I thought it was north american.

Thank rob1234,

I have that book and it is excellent, and I am using it as part of my Lit. review.

As for the roast chicken & corn, it seems that it may be a common food pairing on both sides of the Atlantic since corn was introduced to Europe and used as a grain feed for chicken. (Cornfed chicken)

Thank you for your reply

June 23, 2013

I am not completely a believer of food pairing.
A lot of food preferences are acquired food tastes.
Pork/Apple, duck/orange, lamb/mint, chicken/lemon ------------.
I have done them with various other fruits, kiwi, mango, pineapple, etc, they all taste just as good, if seasoned and cooked well.
dcarch

This is part of my investigation though, maybe the fruits/foods that you substituted have similar molecular compounds...?

June 23, 2013

I will try and get some info on him. This is definitely 1 of the topics that I want to include, not just the science, but that science backs up tradition in some cases.

June 23, 2013

Thanks rotuts,

I will keep this thread updated with any replies that I get from other sources

June 23, 2013

I am currently completing a M.Sc. in Culinary Innovation and Food Product Development at Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland and for my final year thesis I have chosen the subject of flavour pairing.

My thesis will be mainly focused on traditional flavour pairings in Western European society.

My research will investigate food pairings, how and why they were created by cooks through geography, necessity and seasonality.

This study will also investigate if there is an actual scientific justification behind these pairings and do they work because of a compatibility on a molecular level. With the aid of charts, chromatograms and any other relevant data tables, I will display the molecular similarities, differences or compatibilities in such foods.

This is the list of conventional flavour pairings that I am proposing to investigate:

1. Roast Pork + Apple + Sage

2. Roast Beef + Horseradish + Thyme

3. Roast Chicken + Corn + Parsley

4. Lamb + Mint + Peas + Rosemary/thyme

5. Bacon + Cabbage + Mustard

6. Oysters/Fish + Lemon + Fennel

7. Lime + Chili + Avocado + Cilantro

From here I then propose to investigate 2 new flavour pairings that have been created with the use of the foodpairing.com website.

The 2 new flavour pairings created are unusual combinations that one would not normally consider and will be tested on a number focus groups to check there acceptability levels.

The proposed new flavour pairings are:

1. Banana + Tomato + Peppermint + Strawberry + Bergamot

2. Sardine + Raspberry + Sourdough bread + Chili + Olive oil

I would really like to get people's opinions, recommended reading materials, journals or any other general direction

Thank you all in advance

@umami5

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