The Alchemy of Flavor: Discovering Harmony in Pairings

My appreciation for the art of pairing grew out of my culinary explorations, a quest for a deeper connection to the subtleties of nature and craft. Like fine dining itself, pairing is a celebration of the transformative qualities of ingredients.

As I began exploring non-alcoholic pairings in fine dining, I was struck by how thoughtfully chosen flavors could elevate a dish and create unexpected moments of harmony - or surprise.

So what does

PAIRING

mean in practice

A “pairing” means designing two or more items so they complement each other — in taste, texture, aroma, color, contrast, or theme — rather than just coexisting. The goal is that each element elevates the other (so 1 + 1 > 2), or that the contrast makes each more interesting.

Pairings can be:

Food & drink

(dishes with wine, juices, kombuchas, teas etc)

Food & food

(e.g. a sauce with a main, or dessert + accompaniment)

Within courses

(how appetizers, mains, desserts relate in a menu)

Thematic / aesthetic pairing

(appearance, mood, color)

Step-by-step process to pairing in practice

So after tasting, testing and making endless lists of notes, here’s how pairings might be systematically build:

1. Decide your anchor

   1. Pick the central item(s) you want people to remember - this becomes your anchor around which others revolve.

      
      

2. List out candidate partners

   1. For that anchor, brainstorm possible sides, sauces, drinks, garnishes, etc. List both expected ones and wild cards.

      
      

3. Classify by intensity / profile

   1. For each candidate, rate its strength (delicate, moderate, bold), main flavor families (acidic, spicy, herbal, sweet, umami).

      
      

4. Eliminate obvious mismatches

   1. Drop combinations where one is vastly stronger in every dimension - unless! your goal is daring contrast, then go ahead.

      
      

5. Test “bridge” connections

   1. See whether there is a common note or bridge. E.g. If your dish has rosemary, perhaps a drink with herbaceous note can echo that.

      
      

6. Check cleansing function

   1. Ensure something (often the drink) can cleanse the palate - acidity, bitterness, bubbles, herbal bitterness, or texture can do that.

      
      

7. Balance variety across courses / offerings

   1. If you have multiple courses or small bites, avoid that all are “rich / heavy” - mix in lighter or sharper ones.

      
      

8. Iterate & taste

   1. The human palate is the final judge. Try combinations, tweak ratios, change garnish, adjust temperature.

      
      

9. Balance richness with freshness (... or bubbles)

   
   

10. Echo flavor notes to create harmony

    1. Aged Gouda + caramel popcorn both share caramel/butterscotch notes

       
       

11. Choose drinks that either cut or echo

    1. Sparkling wines cut through fat.

    2. Fruity wines (Pinot Noir, Riesling, Grüner Veltliner) echo candy notes.

    3. Bold reds (Merlot, Cab Sauv) stand up to strong cheeses.

Generalized framework for doing pairings

1. Identify the main trait of your anchor item

   • Is it rich, creamy, sharp, nutty, pungent, fruity, sweet?

   • Super important - this tells you whether you need contrast or echo.

     
     

2. Decide if you want harmony or surprise

   • Harmony: find similar notes (nutty- nutty, caramel - caramel).

   • Surprise/contrast: pair opposites (sharp - sweet, fatty - acidic).

     
     

3. Pick a drink with a purpose

   • Cut: bubbles, acidity, dryness to refresh the palate.

   • Echo: fruit, nuttiness, or sweetness to tie flavors together.

   • Balance: sweetness or alcohol weight to match intensity.

Quite a bold example of non-acoholic pairing at Paz, Faroe Islands was:

Paz, Faroe Islands

Beautifully enchancing and a perfect example of Kwok Ying's 1+1=4 philosophy:

Aged white tea paired with King Oyster / Walnut

(Kwok Ying von Beuningen / Omer Mantin / Ayami Awazuhara)

Other recent stunning non alcoholic drinks of recent weeks:

Sencha & Limette (Jan Hartwig)

Apfel, Fenchel & Dill Oil (Alois)

Verveine + Verjus, Quitte+shiso+pickle juice (Tantris)