Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Liquid Smoke

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

Smoky depths and charred notes are at the forefront of liquid smoke'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, burnt, and hints of hickory. We need to understand how these notes affect each other and which complementary flavors they harmonise with.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our exploration reveals, for instance, how the sweet, sulfury dimethyl sulfide in cornflour can embrace liquid smoke, and how red onion's cepaceous notes forge a beautiful synergy with its smoky depths.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. woody, maillard, and earthy) 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 Smoky Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of smoke is strongly associated with the flavour of onion. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a oniony flavour, such as red onion, when pairing with the smoky aroma notes of liquid smoke.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing liquid smoke with red onion.

Harmonious Flavours Of Liquid Smoke

Just as our analysis reveals that smoke and oniony flavours are harmonious, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the notes present in liquid smoke. E.g. the charred accents of liquid smoke are often used with rice-like and bay leaf accents.

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

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of cornflour offers many of the aroma notes complementary to liquid smoke, including corn and vanilla aroma accents. Because the flavour profile of cornflour has many of the of the features that are complementary to liquid smoke, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Liquid Smoke With Cornflour

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Liquid Smoke

The rice notes in sake make it a perfect pairing with liquid smoke. Likewise, the corn flavours in mexican lager create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of liquid smoke below.

Which Vegetables Go With Liquid Smoke?

Choose vegetables that enrich its smokiness or ground its turpentine sweetness. Tomato and beefsteak tomato offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Sorrel add a gentle, oniony brightness, while jerusalem artichoke introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with liquid smoke's turpentiness. The addition of shallot, with its subtle glutamic notes, can complement the resin beautifully, while spring onion lends a pungent aroma.

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