Foodpairing
What is Foodpairing?
Foodpairing is a unique method that identifies which ingredients go well together to provide an exceptional taste experience. The Foodpairing method is based on the principle that ingredients can be combined when they share major flavour components, for example, age old favourites tomato and basil. But tomato and basil also share flavour components with dark chocolate… sundried tomato and basil ganache perhaps?
Who uses Foodpairing?
Foodpairing is a source of inspiration to many of Europe’s most famous Michelin starred chefs. Owner of The Chocolate Line in Bruges and one of only three chocolatiers to be featured in the Guide Michelin, Dominique Persoone uses Foodpairing to look for the perfect balance of flavours and create new ingredient combinations.
Some of Europe’s best bartenders have also turned to Foodpairing to add different dimensions to their cocktails. Bastian Heuser of Barworkz Consulting Agency describes Foodpairing as ‘an essential creativity tool in the food and beverage business.’
How does Foodpairing work?
Foodpairing starts with flavour analysis, using Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), a process which provides the essential flavour profile of each food – in essence, the ‘DNA structure’ of a particular food.
Once this flavour profile has been obtained, it is compared to a database of several hundred others and then matched with similar profiles to create an interactive Flavour Tree, like the one below.
The ingredient of choice appears in the centre of the tree; each ingredient it shares flavour components with branches out from this - the shorter the branch, the better the match! These ingredients are separated into categories such as meat, dairy and herbs and can each be explored further by clicking on them.
Does every Foodpairing combination work?
As the Foodpairing concept is based solely on scientific principles, not every flavour combination is guaranteed to work. There are of course, many ways to introduce flavour into your chocolate; using various methods such as infusing the cream for a ganache with fresh herbs or spices, adding fruit or vegetable purees to a truffle mass or flavouring chocolate slabs and bars with essential oils or flavour drops. The best way to find out what will work is simply to experiment!
Why not try out the simple combination of Lemongrass, Basil & Raspberry in a dark ganache: infuse the cream for your ganache with fresh basil and lemongrass, adding Ravifruit Raspberry Puree: SCF865A, to your mix. Or you can use Lemongrass Essential Oil: SCF653 and Basil Flavour Drops: SCF676 to flavour your ganache mix. The right quantity of ingredients and balance of flavours in each dish is crucial. Finding this balance is up to you!
Why should I use Foodpairing?
If you’re passionate about food and creating new and exciting flavour combinations, the Foodpairing Explorer tool will fire up your creativity and inspire you to become more adventurous in the kitchen! Use Foodpairing when:
- You’re looking for the best possible addition to a dish or cocktail - Foodpairing will help to inspire you
- You want to put a twist on traditional recipes or flavours - Foodpairing can provide that elusive ingredient to take your dish to another level
- Something is missing from a new recipe but you aren’t quite sure what that something is…
How can Foodpairing work for me?
Foodpairing is a vital tool allowing you to stay streets ahead of UK trends in the food industry, assisting you in the development of highly unusual flavour combinations which will help distinguish you from your competitors.
How can I take advantage of Foodpairing?
You can use the free Foodpairing demo here with access to recipes and over 100 Foodpairing trees to help you decide whether Foodpairing can add value to your business… so let your imagination run wild!
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Discover flavour trends ahead of the UK market and give your business a hugely competitive edge!
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