Debate Simmers Over Science of Food Pairing

carmendrahl writes "Why do foods taste good together? Scientists aren't anywhere near figuring it out, but that hasn't stopped one popular idea from spawning a company dedicated to discovering avant-garde new pairings. The idea, called flavor-pairing theory, says that if foods share a key odor molecule, they'll pair well. But some scientists say the idea can't explain all cuisines, and another contends his work with tomato flavor (abstract) shows that flavor pairing is 'a gimmick by a chef who is practicing biology without a license.'"

oblig

[Johann Lau]

That would be cool if you could eat a good food with a bad food and the good food would cover for the bad food when it got to your stomach. Like you could eat a carrot with an onion ring and they would travel down to your stomach, then they would get there, and the carrot would say, "It's cool, he's with me."

-- Mitch Hedberg

Re:Food Pairing not really a problem...

[Johann Lau]

That still sounds great to me. Or putting salad not next to, but ON the spaghetti. YUM! The best meals I can only eat in solitude, society just doesn't understand.

Re:oblig

[bbecker23]

My kingdom for a mod-point.

But now I'm sad, cause I miss him so much.

Re:What? Practicing biology? Unlicensed?

[stainlesssteelpat]

Former chef here. You have to be sonewhat licensed for food handling in several countries - certainly here in Oz. Also cookery is more chemustry than biology, unless you don't clean down after service.