The science behind the meal: Why mix pineapples with blue cheese?

Why is pineapple and blue cheese so delicious when combined? The founder of
Foodpairing.com
, a Belgian company, points out that there are many reasons, but the main reason is that they all contain the flavor ingredient methyl hephate, and he has created a business that can identify almost all taste combinations.at the
RCA
's annual conference and culinary research fair on Saturday,
Foodpairing.com
's director of science and technology,
Bernard Lahousse Lahousse
, and executive chef
Peter Coucquy
, point out that chefs can handle a variety of flavour combinations by constantly experimenting and learning from failures, coupled with their good instincts.Foodpairing.com
has worked with a number of big names in molecular food giants, including Kraft and Nestle, who have studied the equation according to the principle of food composition mixing (if the volatile molecules of the two main foods/ingredients were the same, they might have a better taste and smell together).Lahousse
points out that when the main flavor components of a food are the same, they are more likely to match four foods with tree charts the food pairing process starts with an analysis of the scented substances of the food, such as cucumbers, chocolate, or pita cakes, so that they can determine whether they can be matched with other foods or ingredients.the matching program above, which helps chefs and cocktail bartenders know exactly which foods are better matched from a taste perspective.analysis of a food's main flavor substance, it compares it to hundreds of other foods in the database. Foods with common flavor ingredients are more preserved to form a food matching tree.the branch, the better it fits with the central ingredients. Beijing roast duck, for example, is better matched with cucumbers than beans.Lahousse
told
U.S.
FoodNavigator
that "the actual operation is more complex than that, and based on our understanding of flavor and taste interactions, we have developed proprietary algorithms; " if the two foods are the same as the main volatile ingredients, then they work together better Lahousse
points out that the notion that certain foods may have a molecular basis was first developed by financiers scientists
French Benzi

chef
Heston Blumenthal
(above, he owns
Fat Duck
restaurant industry) in the UK.They all think caviar and white chocolate are a perfect match (perhaps because they all contain methamphetamine), while strawberries and coriander, bananas and cloves, licorice salmon, potatoes and coffee, cocoa and cauliflower, oysters and fennel are a great matchLahousse
says pioneers in the field are no longer just being used in trendy bars and upscale restaurants, working with restaurant giants to help chefs use the science behind the mix to make products that we can buy at Kroger and Wal-Mart supermarkets." includes chefs, bartenders and food companies from all over the world. Some websites are free to access, but if you want access to the full database, you need to subscribe."an unusual combination so, are those unexpected food pairings outside
the
's Lahousse algorithm?There are plenty of examples on the
Foodpairing.com
website, but some interesting combinations include Colombian milk coffee; licorice and Tahiti vanilla; tri-dressing Trapp Westmare (beer) with mangoes, lemons, apricots and cumin; Venezuelan milk and grapefruit (Japanese citrus fruit); purple su (Asian cooking herbs) and strawberries.other examples he tested included chickpeas and pita pies with honeyed ginger, chocolate and purple squash; chocolate sauce and blue cheese; cucumbers, dragon artemisinin, green tea and ginger. These combinations can be made into unusual non-alcoholic cocktails.other delicious combinations include chocolate and fried onions; strawberries and bama cheese; pears, lamb, dark chocolate and polburn herbs; and oysters and thyme.