December 6, 2007, 11:30 am
Foodpairing Diagrams
By Lisa Agustin
The Foodpairing web site takes a scientific approach to recipe creation. Diagrams of 250 ingredients show the major flavor components of each using a series of branches where ingredients with shorter distances between them have more in common. By selecting a flavor from each branch of the product diagram, the chef creates new and tasty combinations:
“If I want to reconstruct the basil flavour without using any basil…search for a combination of other food products where one contains linalool (like coriander), one contains estragol (like tarragon), etc…. So I can reconstruct basil by combining coriander, tarragon, cloves, laurel.”
It’s an interesting idea, making innovation in cooking less of a guessing game and more systematic.
