Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Anchovy

Analysing hundreds of thousands of recipes uncovers anchovy's optimal flavour pairings.

Anchovy is marked by the taste of iodine and brine. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of sardine, a hint of glutamate, and subtle accents reminiscent of protease, giving it remarkable depth. And the alchemy of the kitchen begins when we seek out pairings that allow these notes to truly sing.

To chart these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, each deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, pinpointing the notes that best complement this ingredient’s profile. Our findings reveal, for instance, how flat-leaf parsley's leafy tones can carry anchovy, or how basil's linalool notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the marine aroma.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like acidic, nectarous, and floral, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

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 Oceanic Notes

Our analysis reveals a strong connection between iodine and basil flavours. Since anchovy has a distinct oceanic flavour, try pairing it with the basil-like flavours of basil.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing anchovy with basil.

Harmonious Flavours Of Anchovy

Just as our analysis showed that iodine and basil-like flavour notes tend to pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour accents present in anchovy. E.g. the briney notes of anchovy are often used with starchy and rice-like notes.

The aromas complementing the various aromas of anchovy can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of flat-leaf parsley offers many of the aroma notes complementary to anchovy, including leafy and grassy aroma notes. Because the flavour profile of flat-leaf parsley has many of the of the features that are complementary to anchovy, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of flat-leaf parsley across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with anchovy.

Recipes That Pair Anchovy With Flat-leaf Parsley

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Anchovy

The thyme notes in gardener’s old fashioned make it a perfect pairing with anchovy. Likewise, the grassy flavours in sauvignon blanc (bordeaux) create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of anchovy below.

Which Fruit Go With Anchovy?

Choose fruit that lift its salinity or cut through its marine aroma. Avocado offers vibrant, clean counterpoints, its verdant freshness lifting the palate. Grape tomato add a gentle, oniony brightness, while plum tomato introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace fruit that harmonise with anchovy's savoriness. The addition of pineapple tomato, with its subtle laurelled notes, can complement the glutamate beautifully. Granny Smith apple bridges earthiness and citrus zest, while red bell pepper lends a fresh aroma.

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., Anchovy), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.