Foodpairing

There’s an ice creamery in L.A. that my friends swear by called Scoops, known for the owner’s oddball culinary adventures of pairing flavors like avocado and banana, chocolate and jalapeno, and yam and rose water, and people freak out about how good the ice cream is. But alas, this is not a post about ice cream (sorry, kids), but rather about how it could be that these seemingly gross concoctions could actually taste so good in one special treat. I’m speculating that owner Tai Kim consults something like Foodpairing, an invaluable resource that dissects 250 food products by their “flavor components” and groups them together in an easy-to-read tree with other yummies that share the same flavor genetics. With your chef hat on in the kitchen, you can feel confident mixing these foods together to give a burst of gusto in a dish that your and your guests’ taste buds have never experienced. Foodpairing also has a section on interchangeable foods, so if you find yourself out of a certain item, you can dig into your cupboard and replace it with other edibles that when put together imitate the flavor that you originally were going for. Next time it’s your turn to cook, assure your guests that this time, you do know what you’re doing when serving up roast beef with a side of licorice.

Via Kottke