Sensory and chemical interactions of food pairings (basmati rice, bacon and extra virgin olive oil) with banana

Exploring food and beverage pairing from a cross-cultural projective mapping

Culture is a well-known driver of food choices, and therefore, it could also impact food pairing preferences. Food pairing has been studied from different approaches; however, little cross-cultural research has been done. This work explored food and beverage pairing using projective mapping (PM) to create maps of food-beverage combinations. Four countries (Mexico, Argentina, France, and Norway), thirty foods, and six beverages were selected. PM was carried out through an online study in each country. Participants were asked to map foods together with beverages following the instruction that foods and beverages closer together represented a good combination. The coordinates of each product were analyzed through Multiple Factorial Analyses (MFA) by countries. The first four factors of each MFA were used to perform RV coefficients to test similarities in food-beverage pairings between the countries. Finally, a k-means clustering was performed on the beverage coordinates of each MFA. PM provided maps representing food and beverage pairings for each country in which the proximity between food-beverages represented a good combination according to consumers. RV coefficients between countries were low, showing that food-beverage pairings were not similar across countries, evidencing the cultural effect in food-drink combinations. Results from the k-means clustering showed some similarities and differences between countries. In general, the food-beverage pairing was effectively explored with PM, from which several differences and similarities were found within cultures.

Sensory Features, Liking and Emotions of Consumers towards Classical, Molecular and Note by Note Foods

Modern cuisine served at top-end restaurants attempts to attract customers, who increasingly demand new flavor, pleasure and fun. The materials were six dishes prepared using lemon or tomatoes and made in the traditional (classical), molecular and Note by Note (NbN) versions. The study explores sensory characteristics, consumer liking of key attributes, their declared sensations and emotions, as well as consumers’ facial expressions responding to the dishes. These objectives were investigated by descriptive quantitative analysis and consumer tests. Tests included a 9-point hedonic scale for degree of liking a dish, Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) for declared sensations and FaceReader for facial expressions. The influence of factors associated with consumer attitudes toward new food and willingness to try the dishes in the future were also determined. It was stated that the product profiles represent different sensory characteristics due to the technology of food production and the ingredients used. The food neophobia and consumer innovativeness had a significant (p ≤ 0.05) effect on liking. The odor-, flavor-, texture- and overall-liking of the NbN dishes were lower than that of traditional versions but did not vary from scores for molecular samples. The expected liking of NbN dishes was higher than experienced-liking. Traditional and modern products differed in CATA terms. Classical dishes were perceived by consumers as more tasty, traditional and typical while modern cuisine dishes were perceived as more surprising, intriguing, innovative and trendy. Mimic expressions assessment by FaceReader showed similar trends in some emotions in both classical dishes and separate temporal patterns in modern products.

The influence of companion foods on sensory attribute perception and liking of regular and sodium-reduced foods

Among major contributors of dietary sodium intake, many foods are consumed together with companion foods, specifically condiments and carriers. This study compared sensory profiles and overall liking between commercially available regular and sodium-reduced foods consumed with or without companion foods; and examined changes in sensory profiles and overall liking when foods are consumed in condiment-carrier pairs. Three distinct consumer panels evaluated one of the three condiment-carrier pairs, salsa-corn chips (n = 98, 63% female), ketchup-tater tots (n = 100, 69% female), and soy sauce-cooked rice (n = 98, 70% female). For each panel, consumers evaluated five samples; including the regular and sodium-reduced carriers/condiments alone, the companion food alone, and the regular and sodium-reduced foods each with its companion food. Samples were rated for overall liking (9-point hedonic scale) and the intensity of defining sensory attributes (3-point Rate-All-That-Apply scale). Consumers perceived sensory attribute differences between regular and sodium-reduced corn chips (salty) and soy sauce (salty, sweet), but not ketchup. The presence of the companion food reduced consumer ability to discriminate sensory attributes between regular and sodium-reduced products and changed sensory profiles and liking of the foods. Additionally, consumer heterogeneity in hedonic response identified three consumer segments in each consumer panel. Consumer segments differed in their sensory attribute perception. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: It is possible for the food industry to reduce sodium in a range of companion foods without changing consumer preference. The selection of companion foods is important to consumer evaluation of foods under the context of food pairing; corn chips-salsa and ketchup-tater tots are appropriate food pairs. Future sensory studies on food reformulation toward sodium reduction should target specific consumer segments of product liking and sensory attribute perception, which may in turn be influenced by food consumption frequency.

Food and beverage flavour pairing: A critical review of the literature

The recent explosion of interest in the topic of flavour pairing has been driven, at least in part, by the now-discredited food-pairing hypothesis, along with the emergence of the new field of computational gastronomy. Many chefs, sommeliers, mixologists, and drinks brands, not to mention a few food brands, have become increasingly interested in moving the discussions that they have with their consumers beyond the traditional focus solely on food and wine pairings. Here, two key approaches to pairing that might help to explain/justify those food and beverage combinations that the consumer is likely to appreciate are outlined. Historically-speaking, many conventional pairings emerged naturally from cultural/geographical matches, presumably internalized as semantic knowledge amongst consumers. In this review, such conventional pairings are framed as but one example of a cognitive/intellectual food-beverage strategy. The alternative approach to pairing that has become increasingly popular in recent years involves experts/commentators making recommendations based on the perceptual relationship, or interaction, between the component stimuli, be it one of perceived similarity, contrast, harmony, emergence, or modulation (either suppression or enhancement). Physicochemical accounts of pairing, based on the presence of shared flavour molecules (e.g., aromatic volatiles) in the to-be-combined flavours or ingredients, have also gained in popularity. Here, though, the latter approach is framed as an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to predict matches based on perceived similarity. This review summarizes the available evidence concerning food-beverage pairing and proposes a new dichotomy between intellectual/cognitive and perceptual pairing principles in the case of food-beverage matching.

Total phenolics, flavonoids, antioxidant activity, crude fibre and digestibility in non-traditional wheat flakes and muesli

The five different types of muesli composed of non-traditional wheat flakes were prepared and analysed. Dickkopf wheat, red wheat, kamut and spelt were compared with commercial wheat flakes. Wheat flakes and muesli were assessed for basic analyses (dry matter, ash, protein, starch and fat content), total phenolic and flavonoid content, antioxidant activity (ABTS and DPPH assays), crude fibre content and in vitro digestibility. Furthermore, sensory evaluation of muesli involving scale and ranking preference tests was provided. Flakes and muesli made from Dickkopf wheat and red wheat showed the highest total phenolic and flavonoid content and, consequently, the highest antioxidant activity. Moreover, these cereals were high in crude fibre and thus were less digestible. On the other hand, the lowest total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity were determined in commercial flakes and muesli produced from these flakes. The flakes made from non-traditional wheat were sensorially comparable to commercial products.