Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Smoked Cheddar

Unlock the perfect flavour pairings for smoked cheddar according to data science. Explore unique recipes and discover the hidden mathematics of flavour.
Smoky depths and lactic notes are at the forefront of smoked cheddar'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 butter, char, and hints of hickory. 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 cornflour's maize-like tones embrace smoked cheddar, and how garlic oil's cepaceous notes create a surprising synergy with its smoky depths.
Flavour Profile Of Smoked Cheddar Across 150 Dimensions Of Flavour
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Smoked cheddar: Smoky, Lactic, Hickory, Charred, Buttery, Glutamic, Resinous, Toasted, Milky, Proteolytic, Caramel, Hazelnut, Leather
An ingredient's flavour stems from its core characteristics, such as maillard, woody, or acidic, 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.
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 Smoky Notes
Strength of Association Between Flavours
The flavours most associated with smoky notes are: Onion, Corn, Camphor, Sulfurous, Thyme, Maple, Eucalyptus, Seedy, Garlic, Acetic, Fenugreek, Hay, Bay leaf, Basil, Mustard.
Our analysis reveals a strong connection between smoke and onion flavours. Since smoked cheddar has a distinct smoky flavour, try pairing it with the oniony flavours of garlic oil.
The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing smoked cheddar with garlic oil.
Harmonious Flavours Of Smoked Cheddar
Just as our analysis revealed that smoke and oniony flavour accents are often associated, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the notes present in smoked cheddar. E.g. the lactic acid flavours of smoked cheddar are often used with cocoa and blackberry accents.
The accents complementary to the various accents of smoked cheddar can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.
Flavour Profile Of Smoked Cheddar And Its Complementary Flavour Notes
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Smoked cheddar: Smoky, Lactic, Hickory, Charred, Buttery, Glutamic, Resinous, Toasted, Milky, Proteolytic, Caramel, Hazelnut, Leather
Matching Flavour Profiles
The flavour profile of cornflour offers many of the aroma notes complementary to smoked cheddar, including corn aromas. Because the flavour profile of cornflour has many of the of the features that are complementary to smoked cheddar, they are likely to pair very well together.
Prominent Flavour Notes Of Cornflour Are Represented By Longer Bars
Flavour wheel chart showing the dominant flavour notes of Cornflour: Corn, Starch, Caramel, Vanillic, Wheat, Buttery
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 smoked cheddar.
Recipes That Pair Smoked Cheddar With Cornflour
Linked Flavour Notes
Looking at the aroma notes that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of smoked cheddar, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.
Smoked Cheddar's Harmonious Flavours And Complementary Ingredients
Smoked cheddar's Strongest Flavours
Complementary Flavours
Ingredients with Complementary Flavours
Flavour groups:
Nectarous
Acidic
Floral
Herbal
Spice
Vegetal
Maillard
Earthy
Woody
Carnal
The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of smoked cheddar, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aromas complementary to smoked cheddar.
What To Drink With Smoked Cheddar
The blackberry notes in bobal make it a perfect pairing with smoked cheddar. Likewise, the blackberry flavours in young red bordeaux create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of smoked cheddar 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., Smoked cheddar), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.
Explore More
Discover more ingredient profiles and expand your culinary knowledge. Each ingredient page offers detailed analysis of flavour profiles, pairing insights, and culinary applications.
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.