Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Ancho Chilli

Top flavour pairings and ancho chilli recipes, revealed through the hidden methmatics of flavour.

Ancho chilli is marked by the unmistakable taste of raisin and molasses. But look beneath its obvious sweetness and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of cocoa, a hint of cherry, and subtle accents reminiscent of caramel, contributing remarkable depth. The culinary wizardry unfolds when we pair ancho chilli with ingredients that let these nuances sing.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our analysis reveals, for example, how sesame seed's sesamol tones resonate with ancho chilli, and how allspice's pimenta notes create a surprising synergy with its dried-fruit sweetness.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. spice, maillard, and woody) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.

The Art of Flavour Pairing

To understand how flavour notes harmonise, we analysed more than 50,000 popular ingredient combinations. By exploring these pairings, we identified specific flavour notes that frequently occur together, indicating they share a harmonious relationship.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Raisin Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of raisin is strongly associated with the flavour of allspice. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a allspice-like flavour, such as allspice, when pairing with the raisin accents of ancho chilli.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing ancho chilli with allspice.

Harmonious Flavours Of Ancho Chilli

Just as our statistical analysis showed that raisin and allspice-like flavours are harmonious, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in ancho chilli. For instance, the molasses notes of ancho chilli are strongly associated with sesame and capsicum notes.

The aroma notes complementary to the various accents of ancho chilli can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of sesame seed offers many of the aroma accents complementary to ancho chilli, including sesame and seedy aroma accents. Because the flavour profile of sesame seed has many of the of the features that are complementary to ancho chilli, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of sesame seed across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with ancho chilli.

Recipes That Pair Ancho Chilli With Sesame Seed

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the accents that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of ancho chilli, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of ancho chilli, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aromas complementary to ancho chilli.

What To Drink With Ancho Chilli

The clove notes in falernum make it a perfect pairing with ancho chilli. Likewise, the clove flavours in mulled cider create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of ancho chilli below.

Which Vegetables Go With Ancho Chilli?

Choose vegetables that anchor its pungency or ground its warm sweetness. Carrot and parsnip offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Grape tomato add a gentle, oniony brightness, while sweetcorn introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with ancho chilli's turpentiness. The addition of tomato, with its subtle glutamic notes, can complement the resin beautifully, while tinned tomato lends a savoury richness.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Ancho chilli), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.