Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Holy Basil

Exquisite holy basil flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Aromatic herbalness and camphoraceous notes are at the forefront of holy basil'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 resin, clove, and hints of mint. 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 fish sauce's saline tones ground holy basil, and how mussel's oceanic notes create a surprising synergy with its aromatic herbalness.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. herbal, vegetal, 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.

Unlocking Flavour Combinations

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 Basil Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of basil is strongly associated with the flavour of iodine. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a oceanic flavour, such as mussel, when pairing with the basil-like notes of holy basil.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing holy basil with mussel.

Harmonious Flavours Of Holy Basil

Just as our analysis revealed that basil and oceanic notes are harmonious, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour accents present in holy basil. For instance, the camphor accents of holy basil are strongly associated with gamey and fatty notes.

The notes linked to the various notes of holy basil can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of fish sauce offers many of the aroma accents complementary to holy basil, including saline and glutamic aroma accents. Because the flavour profile of fish sauce has many of the of the features that are complementary to holy basil, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Holy Basil With Fish Sauce

Linked Flavour Notes

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

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of holy basil, 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 holy basil.

What To Drink With Holy Basil

The fatty notes in pecorino make it a perfect pairing with holy basil. Likewise, the oceanic flavours in manzanilla sherry create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of holy basil 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., Holy basil), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.