Food Pairing and Umami

Food Pairing Hypothesis

According to this hypothesis, certain combinations of ingredients that share common flavor compounds taste better than those with no common compounds. This has led to surprising examples of pairings, for example, chocolate with caviar, which both contain trimethylamine; and chocolate with blue cheese, which have at least seventy-three flavor components in common. The hypothesis, which is not founded in any scientific rationale, has recently been investigated by a network analysis of 56,498 recipes covering several cultural regions. The investigation showed that, whereas the hypothesis found some support in Western cuisines, the opposite was true for Asian cuisines. The latter seem to avoid combining ingredients that have compounds in common. Hence, food pairing is probably more a matter of tradition and regional food culture than of physiological origin.