Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Wood Chip

Exquisite wood chip flavour pairings and recipes, revealed through data science.

Wood chip instantly conjures the embrace of smoke and the bracing kiss of resin, but beneath its bitterness lies a complex symphony of subtle flavour notes, such as oak, char, and hints of tannin, giving it remarkable depth. The key to a beautiful synergy lies in understanding how these accents 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 lamb leg's adipose tones enrich wood chip, and how onion granules's cepaceous notes create a surprising synergy with its smoky depths.

An ingredient's flavour comes from its core characteristics, like woody, earthy, and maillard, combined with its unique aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim to include a broad variety of core characteristics for a balanced dish. And choose aroma notes that complement each other for a harmonious combination.

Flavour Pairing Method

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 onion granules, when pairing with the smoky accents of wood chip.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing wood chip with onion granules.

Harmonious Flavours Of Wood Chip

Just as our ingredient analysis revealed that smoke and oniony flavour notes are harmonious, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in wood chip. For instance, the resinous accents of wood chip are strongly associated with glutamic and fatty notes.

The aromas linked to the various aroma notes of wood chip can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of lamb leg offers many of the accents complementary to wood chip, including fatty and ferrous notes. Because the flavour profile of lamb leg has many of the of the features that are complementary to wood chip, they are likely to pair very well together.

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

Recipes That Pair Wood Chip With Lamb Leg

Linked Flavour Notes

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

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

What To Drink With Wood Chip

The glutamic notes in cheese make it a perfect pairing with wood chip. Likewise, the fatty flavours in dairy create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of wood chip below.

Which Vegetables Go With Wood Chip?

Choose vegetables that infuse with its resinousness or infuse with its wood aroma. Beetroot juice and beetroot offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Salsify add a gentle, oniony brightness, while shallot introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with wood chip's turpentiness. The addition of savoy cabbage, with its subtle glutamic notes, can complement the resin beautifully, while spring onion 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., Wood chip), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.