Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Clove

Discover the best flavour pairings for clove based on data analysis of thousands of recipes. Find perfect ingredient matches & delicious recipes.

Pungent spice and pimenta notes are at the forefront of clove's flavour profile, but identifying its perfect partner requires exploring its subtle nuances. We must examine the complex interplay of notes within its bouquet, like cinnamon, camphor, and hints of resin. We need to understand how these notes affect each other and which complementary flavors they harmonise with.

To illuminate these harmonies, we embarked on an ambitious journey, analysing thousands of ingredients. Each was meticulously deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, allowing us to pinpoint precisely which notes complement in both classic and unexpected ways. Our analysis reveals, for example, how pork belly's porcine tones enrich clove, and how maple syrup's sotolon notes create a surprising synergy with its pungent spice.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. spice, woody, and floral) 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 Flavour Code

To understand exactly which flavours harmonise, we compiled a database of over 50,000 ingredient pairings commonly used in cooking. We then analysed these pairings, identifying the specific flavour notes that frequently appear together.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Clove Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of clove is strongly associated with the flavour of maple. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a maple flavour, such as maple syrup, when pairing with the clove-like aromas of clove.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing clove with maple syrup.

Harmonious Flavours Of Clove

Just as our analysis revealed that clove and maple flavour notes frequently pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour accents present in clove. E.g. the allspice-like flavours of clove are often used with seedy and caramel flavours.

The aroma accents complementing the various aroma accents of clove can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of pork belly offers many of the accents complementary to clove, including porcine and fatty aromas. Because the flavour profile of pork belly has many of the of the features that are complementary to clove, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Clove With Pork Belly

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Clove

The ovine notes in oat milk make it a perfect pairing with clove. Likewise, the molasses flavours in vincotto create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of clove below.

Which Fruit Go With Clove?

Choose fruit that resonate with its fragrancy or resonate with its pungent spice. Date and sultana offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Prune add a gentle, oniony brightness, while dried apple introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace fruit that harmonise with clove's warmth. The addition of cooking apple, with its subtle malic notes, can complement the allspice beautifully, while avocado lends a crisp tartness.

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