Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Arugula

Exquisite arugula flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Arugula conjures the embrace of mustard and the kiss of cabbage, woven with delicate hints of grass, chlorophyll, and spinach that give it remarkable depth. The alchemy of the kitchen unfolds when we pair arugula with ingredients that let these nuances 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 mortadella's porcine tones can enrich arugula, or how Roma tomato's solanum notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the pungent aroma.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like vegetal, herbal, and spice, 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 Secret Language of Flavour

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 Mustard Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of mustard is strongly associated with the flavour of tomato. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a tomatoey flavour, such as Roma tomato, when pairing with the mustardy aroma notes of arugula.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing arugula with Roma tomato.

Harmonious Flavours Of Arugula

Just as our analysis indicated that mustard and tomatoey flavour notes are harmonious, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour accents present in arugula. For instance, the cabbagy accents of arugula are strongly associated with oaky and bay leaf flavours.

The aroma notes associated with the various aroma accents of arugula can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of mortadella offers many of the notes complementary to arugula, including porcine and ovine notes. Because the flavour profile of mortadella has many of the of the features that are complementary to arugula, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Arugula With Mortadella

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Arugula

The asparagus notes in pecorino make it a perfect pairing with arugula. Likewise, the saline flavours in fino sherry (sherry) create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of arugula below.

Which Cheese Go With Arugula?

Choose cheese that embrace its herbalness or embrace its warm herbiness. Kefalograviera and halloumi offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Parmesan add a gentle, oniony brightness, while primo sale introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace cheese that harmonise with arugula's greenness. The addition of grana padano, with its subtle iodine-like notes, can complement the grass beautifully, while pecorino romano lends a marine brininess.

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