Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Canadian Bacon

Exquisite Canadian bacon flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Canadian bacon immediately conjures the embrace of smoke and the bracing kiss of pork. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of glutamate, a hint of hickory, and subtle accents reminiscent of brine that contribute remarkable depth. The key to a beautiful combination lies in appreciating how these notes interact and harmonise.

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 carrot's saccharine tones lift Canadian bacon, and how onion's cepaceous notes create a surprising synergy with its smoky depths.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like carnal, maillard, 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 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 Smoky Notes

Our analysis reveals a strong connection between smoke and onion flavours. Since Canadian bacon has a distinct smoky flavour, try pairing it with oniony flavours.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing Canadian bacon with onion.

Harmonious Flavours Of Canadian Bacon

Just as our ingredient analysis revealed that smoke and oniony flavour notes harmonise well, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the notes present in Canadian bacon. For instance, the glutamic flavours of Canadian bacon are strongly associated with bay leaf and basil-like flavours.

The aromas associated with the various aroma accents of Canadian bacon can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of carrot offers many of the aroma accents complementary to Canadian bacon, including sugary and grassy notes. Because the flavour profile of carrot has many of the of the features that are complementary to Canadian bacon, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Linked Flavour Notes

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

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of Canadian bacon, 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 Canadian bacon.

What To Drink With Canadian Bacon

The violet notes in crème de violette make it a perfect pairing with canadian bacon. Likewise, the bay leaf flavours in carmenere create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of canadian bacon below.

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