Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Plum Sauce
Exquisite plum sauce flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.
Plum sauce is defined by the unmistakable flavours of cherry and plum, but beneath its sweet surface lies a nuanced symphony of subtle flavour notes: vinegar, ginger, and even hints of peach that give it remarkable depth. The key to an exceptional pairing lies in recognising how these elements harmonise and interact.
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 sour, tart malic acid in green apple can cut through plum sauce, and how clove's eugenolic notes forge a beautiful synergy with its juicy sweetness.
Flavour Profile Of Plum Sauce Across 150 Dimensions Of Flavour
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Plum sauce: Cherry, Plum, Acetic, Ginger, Peach, Raisin, Anise, Clove, Allspice, Ficus, Almond, Butyric, Bay leaf, Burnt, Molasses, Cinnamon, Allicin, Seedy, Parsnip, Malic, Apricot, Iron, Sugary, Caramel, Honeyed, Balsam, Maple
An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. spice, nectarous, and acidic) 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 Cherry Notes
Strength of Association Between Flavours
The flavours most associated with cherry notes are: Clove, Grapefruit, Neroli, Citric, Bergamot, Cinnamon, Pine, Cedar, Ginger, Resin, Pimenta, Astringent, Balsam, Bovine, Buttery.
Our analysis reveals a strong connection between cherry and clove flavours. Since plum sauce has a distinct cherry-like flavour, try pairing it with the clove-like flavours of clove.
The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing plum sauce with clove.
Harmonious Flavours Of Plum Sauce
Just as our analysis revealed that cherry and clove-like flavour accents are often associated, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in plum sauce. For instance, the plum-like notes of plum sauce are strongly associated with sugary and vanillic notes.
The aroma accents associated with the various aromas of plum sauce can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.
Flavour Profile Of Plum Sauce And Its Complementary Flavour Notes
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Plum sauce: Cherry, Plum, Acetic, Ginger, Peach, Raisin, Anise, Clove, Allspice, Ficus, Almond, Butyric, Bay leaf, Burnt, Molasses, Cinnamon, Allicin, Seedy, Parsnip, Malic, Apricot, Iron, Sugary, Caramel, Honeyed, Balsam, Maple
Matching Flavour Profiles
The flavour profile of green apple offers many of the notes complementary to plum sauce, including malic and cucumber accents. Because the flavour profile of green apple has many of the of the features that are complementary to plum sauce, they are likely to pair very well together.
Prominent Flavour Notes Of Green Apple Are Represented By Longer Bars
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Green apple: Malic, Cucumber, Pear, Grassy, Violet, Menthol, Banana, Astringent, Melon, Blossom, Plum, Ginger, Cedar, Flint, Petrichor, Grapefruit, Raspberry, Hibiscus, Pineapple, Capsicum
The chart above shows the unique profile of green apple across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with plum sauce.
Recipes That Pair Plum Sauce With Green Apple
Linked Flavour Notes
Looking at the notes that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of plum sauce, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.
Plum Sauce's Harmonious Flavours And Complementary Ingredients
Plum sauce's Strongest Flavours
Complementary Flavours
Ingredients with Complementary Flavours
Flavour groups:
Nectarous
Acidic
Floral
Spice
Vegetal
Maillard
Carnal
The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of plum sauce, 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 plum sauce.
What To Drink With Plum Sauce
The malic notes in mulled cider make it a perfect pairing with plum sauce. Likewise, the malic flavours in cawston press apple and rhubarb juice create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of plum sauce 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., Plum sauce), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.
The content on our analysis blog is semi-automated. All of the words were manually written by a human, but the content is updated dynamically based on the data.