Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Nutmeg

Exquisite nutmeg flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Nutmeg immediately conjures the embrace of resin and the bracing kiss of clove, but beneath its bitter surface lies a nuanced symphony of subtle flavour notes: camphor, pine, and even hints of cinnamon, contributing remarkable depth. The key to an exceptional harmony lies in understanding how these elements combine harmoniously.

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 pheasant's gamey tones enrich nutmeg, and how beef juice's glutamic notes create a surprising synergy with its turpentine sweetness.

An ingredient's flavour stems from its core characteristics, such as spice, woody, or floral, combined with layers of subtle flavour notes (outer bars). For a balanced dish, pair ingredients with a variety of core flavours, and choose complementary aroma notes for harmony.

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 Resin Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of resin is strongly associated with the flavour of glutamate. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a glutamic flavour, such as beef juice, when pairing with the resinous notes of nutmeg.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing nutmeg with beef juice.

Harmonious Flavours Of Nutmeg

Just as our analysis revealed that resin and glutamic flavour notes combine harmoniously, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavours present in nutmeg. For instance, the clove-like notes of nutmeg are strongly associated with malic and hay notes.

The notes complementing the various aroma notes of nutmeg can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of pheasant offers many of the notes complementary to nutmeg, including gamey and glutamic aroma notes. Because the flavour profile of pheasant has many of the of the features that are complementary to nutmeg, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Nutmeg With Pheasant

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Nutmeg

The glutamic notes in pecorino make it a perfect pairing with nutmeg. Likewise, the glutamic flavours in tomato juice create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of nutmeg below.

Which Cheese Go With Nutmeg?

Choose cheese that resonate with its pungency or ground its turpentine sweetness. Comté and gruyère offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Gouda add a gentle, oniony brightness, while grana padano introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace cheese that harmonise with nutmeg's floralness. The addition of fontina, with its subtle lacteal notes, can complement the blossom beautifully, while hard cheese lends a savoury richness.

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