Flavor Network

The Culinary Fingerprints of World Cuisines

Ahn et al. (2011) demonstrated that different culinary traditions use fundamentally different pairing strategies based on the chemical flavor compounds present in ingredients. By evaluating different cultural Cooking Bases, we can observe these principles in action:

Compound-Sharing Bases mirror the Food Pairing Hypothesis favored by Western Cuisines.
Compound-Avoiding Bases mirror the Compound Avoiding Principle typical of East Asian Cuisines.

Select a Protein to Generate Pairings:

Highly Shared Compounds

Cooking Bases utilizing the Food Pairing Hypothesis.

Avoided Compounds

Cooking Bases utilizing the Compound Avoiding Principle.

Regional Flavor Profiles

A guide to essential staples (To Learn) and quick spice blends (To Cheat)
(Adapted from Tim Ferriss' "The 4-Hour Chef").

Spice Blends of the World

A closer look at the constituent ingredients of famous global spice blends.