Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Ham Hock

Top flavour pairings and ham hock recipes, revealed through the hidden methmatics of flavour.

Ham hock instantly conjures the evocative embrace of thiamine and the kiss of glutamate. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of smoke, a hint of char, and subtle accents reminiscent of caramel, contributing remarkable depth. And the magic of the kitchen begins when we seek out partners that allow these notes to truly sing, to harmonise in unexpected and delightful ways.

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 findings reveal, for instance, how thyme's thymic tones can awaken ham hock, or how sage's rosmarinic notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the porky meatiness.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. carnal, maillard, and spice) 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.

Flavour Pairing Method

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 Porcine Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of pork is strongly associated with the flavour of rosemary. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a rosemary flavour, such as sage, when pairing with the porky aroma accents of ham hock.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing ham hock with sage.

Harmonious Flavours Of Ham Hock

Just as our analysis revealed that pork and violic flavour notes combine harmoniously, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavours present in ham hock. For instance, the smoky flavours of ham hock are strongly associated with oniony and corn-like notes.

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

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of thyme offers many of the aromas complementary to ham hock, including thyme and rosemary notes. Because the flavour profile of thyme has many of the of the features that are complementary to ham hock, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Ham Hock With Thyme

Linked Flavour Notes

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

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of ham hock, 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 ham hock.

What To Drink With Ham Hock

The rosemary notes in côtes du rhône make it a perfect pairing with ham hock. Likewise, the violet flavours in crème de violette create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of ham hock below.

Which Vegetables Go With Ham Hock?

Choose vegetables that cut through its meatiness or ground its warm sweetness. Savoy cabbage and green cabbage offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Salad add a gentle, oniony brightness, while button onion introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with ham hock's savoriness. The addition of carrot, with its subtle thymic notes, can complement the glutamate beautifully, while red leaf lettuce lends a woody herbiness.

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