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Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pairing]

Food pairing questions, but only very specific ones. Do not use for "what goes with X?" (off-topic).

Unfortunately, "what goes with X?" is generally off-topic, since it leads to broad, opinion-based questions, and overlaps a lot with recipe requests.

For resources about discovering flavor pairings you might enjoy, see How can I find flavors that pair well with a given ingredient?

The only exceptions are very specific questions, giving a lot of detail about what the exact goals are. Notably, "improve flavor" or "taste good" are definitely not specific enough.

For more details, see:

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How to Pair for Beer Tastings

I am no sommelier, however I understand that while drinking or tasting wines a suitable matching food-stuff (be it a cheese, herb, etc) should be paired to fully engage the drink. Is there a similar practice to observe with respect to beers? If so,…
mfg
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What are some savory banana applications?

I have a lot of bananas, but I don't particularly like bananas. I would like to try using them, but I want to use them in a more savory application. I'm not looking to make a dessert or bread with them. How can I use a banana in a savory…
GeneratorHalf
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Choosing a wine that complements a meal

I've heard that particular types of wine are good matches for particular types of food. I'm fairly new to wine being served with a meal I prepared, and I'd like to learn about how and why I should pick a wine that complements the rest of the meal. I…
Sam Harwell
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What fruit pair well with spinach?

What fruit pair well with spinach? This is for a cold spinach-based salad rather than cooked spinach, but I'd be interested in warm spinach too.
Chris S
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What is a good side dish for a freshly boiled lobster?

I plan to boil a fresh lobster. Serving it only with melted butter and lemon seems like not enough. What would be a good side dish for it?
z-boss
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What to serve at a cheese tasting?

I'm arranging a cheese tasting for 10 adults in a few weeks, mostly hard Italian cheeses, and I'm wondering what to serve with it? I want the taste of the cheese to come through, but I also want people to taste the cheese as they would eat it…
Joe Casadonte
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Why do fatty foods go with sour ones?

Why do fatty foods tend to go with acids? Mayonnaise and hollandaise contain lemon juice, and fatty fish tends to be served with lemon. Barbecue pork and pork belly are sometimes served with a vinegar-based sauce. I've also heard that fatty foods…
Neil G
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What seasonal vegetable side dishes are appropriate for Hungarian Goulash?

We are planning a traditional Hungarian Goulash dinner, and apart from egg noodles, would like a vegetable side-dish to accompany. It's late October, and we'd prefer some seasonal ingredients if possible. What vegetable side dishes compliment a…
RI Swamp Yankee
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How to pair cheese with wine?

It is common knowledge that cheese goes well with wine. However, the choice of which sort of cheese to pair with which wine seems an arcane discipline. Are there some easy, logical rules to follow? Something on the lines of "never serve fresh…
rumtscho
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How to prepare chicken tartare?

One of my favorite dishes is steak tartare with fried bread, garlic, capers, beets and raw egg yolk. I would like to try chicken tartare (food safety issues aside - I'm aware of the risks); however, I don't think that garlic, beet and caper match…
Godisemo
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How to complement a dish?

I really love cooking the "main feature" of a meal... I love doing the meat - steak, chicken breasts, you name it, I love it. But when it comes to making the rest of the meal, I always draw a blank. I end up resorting to the same old thing that I…
Chase Florell
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How can I find flavors that pair well with a given ingredient?

"What goes with X?" is a common question. It could be a starting point for coming up with a new recipe for an ingredient you have on hand, or a way to come up with a variation on an existing recipe. So how can I find such flavor pairings? Are there…
Cascabel
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What kind of cooling garnish is like ice cream but doesn't melt?

In a related question, I asked about plating with bread for sampling chili. Here I need to find a cooling, as in take the heat off the capsaicin with fats, garnish. For this question I would like to know how to garnish. I am making a bacon and…
mfg
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Are there guidelines for choosing bread for a sandwich?

I'm trying to figure out if there's a sort of "etiquette" to it, like there is with wine. Obviously, some sandwiches just "go" with a certain bread, like cream cheese and salmon on a bagel. I'm trying to understand the link between the filling and…
Carmi
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How do these flavors of liquid smoke differ?

When buying liquid smoke I'm generally faced with a choice of: Hickory Apple-tree Mesquite Pecan How do these differ? I'm interested in knowing things that'd help me decide what to pair them with.
noamt
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