The Science of Foodpairing

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In old days, there are some old rules about pairing white wine and fish, red wine and steak, and so on. Now, there are science and explanations behind it. Although food sensations are determined by several factors like color, texture, temperature and palatability, flavor has been proven to be the key influential factor. Through experimental trial and error, chefs discovered that some foods taste rather pleasant when combined with others. The method in which chefs and cooks use to identify the kinds of foods that go well together is termed as food pairing. Food pairing is used to obtain or come up with the best food combinations. Food pairing has an inspirational source, which is used in food technology to create new food ingredients. The system is based on scientific analysis of the active components of different foods. The chemical components that can be best combined are identified. Food that scientists find to contain similar flavors can be easily combined compared to foods that have a different flavor composition. The food products that contain similar flavor components are put in the same group of components to form a food pairing tree. The food pairing tree is used by chefs and cooks to guide them on the best food combination. The combinations in food pairing are sometimes unusual but proven tasty. Furthermore, food pairing has no traditional or cultural restrictions. Therefore, food pairing can make combined foods that anyone can eat (Heston, 2006). Food pairing has been traditionally used to make delicious food flavor combination. It has been practiced through trial and error in different food combinations such as combining tomato and basil, bacon with eggs and cucumber with dill. Food pairing is different from normal recipes. Recipe gives the guideline to make a certain food. The combine foods may not necessarily have flavor similarity. Ingredients in a

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