Food Pairing Research Articles

Wine Experiences: A Review from a Multisensory Perspective

The existing multisensory literature suggests that the combination of the different human senses in a controlled fashion during food/drink experiences can provide more enjoyment to consumers. The present research reviews recent literature relating multisensory perception with wine experiences, focusing on the interaction of the five basic senses (taste, smell, vision, touch, and sound). This is mostly being assessed from a perceptual and behavioral consumer perspective. Here, the authors report different ways in which such interactions across these senses can affect the way a wine is experienced, prior to, during, and even after tasting. The authors finish this literature review by providing some insights in the context of wine and food pairing, while also generally reflecting on potential future work. These insights may be inspirational for a diverse group of organizations working with wine. Based on such multisensory approaches, it may be possible to bring unforeseen sensations to the different wine experiences, while at the same time stressing particular sensory and/or emotional attributes.

A quest for the healthy lifestyle and learning experiences in olive oil tourism

ABSTRACT Olive oil tourism is an emerging form of tourism and it has recently garnered attention owing to health-related benefits of olive oil. Prior research has investigated olive oil tourists’ characteristics, their motivations for olive oil tourism and drivers for satisfaction in the context of traditional markets, such as Spain and Italy. However, there is scant research understanding olive oil tourists’ experiences in emerging markets, such as the US. This void is important to fill as olive oil tourists in emerging markets may be different from those in traditional markets in terms of their knowledge in and consumption of olive oil. Drawing on the experience economy framework, the authors show that education (vs. aesthetics, entertainment, and escapist) experience is more closely related to satisfaction among US olive oil tourists. Olive oil tourism marketers may want to emphasize learning aspects of olive oil tourism via open-house tastings at olive mills, production tours, free sampling of various olive oils and food pairings.

Manyisig: The culinary heritage significance of Sisig in Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines

Manyisig is a documented word from the Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga of Friar Diego Bergano, published in 1860, which means a kind of salad with a spicy vinegar dressing or any sour snack that includes unripe mangoes or guavas. From this context and through the culinary and community development, manyisig became the origin of what is known today as Sisig or chopped, minced pork face and cheek with onions and chilies. This qualitative-case study research explicated the culinary heritage significance of Sisig ni Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines. It also highlights the common characteristics of Angeles City Sisig, such as raw ingredients, associated tangible and intangible heritages, associated built structures, and culinary tradition. The research assessed the culinary tradition by collecting physical evidence through observation using culinary heritage mapping and photo and video documentation, oral evidence through in-depth interview using semi-structured aide memoire and robofoto, and documentary evidence through content analysis using literature review and synthesis matrix or tabular reconnaissance. A total of forty-six (46) food establishments were documented with their versions of Sisig. In analyzing the information collected, a repertory grid and thematic network analysis were used. Sisig culinary tradition translates on different cultural aspects, such as raw ingredients that are meat-related, fat, flavor enhancer, related or associated, and cultural development, associated tangible heritages that are cooking materials, consumption-related, and food pairing, associated intangible heritages, specifically on the process of cooking, associated built structures that highlight the source of the culinary tradition, viability, and culinary tradition. In conclusion, the Kapampangans, specifically from Angeles City, continuously safeguard and protect the tradition through communal and cultural connectivity.

Primates' Food Preferences Predict Their Food Choices Even Under Uncertain Conditions

Primates’ food preferences are typically assessed under conditions of certainty. To increase ecological validity, and to explore primates’ decision making from a comparative perspective, we tested three primate species (Pan troglodytes, Gorilla gorilla gorilla, Macaca fuscata) (N = 18) in two food-preference tests that created different conditions of uncertainty. In the first, we showed subjects pairs of photographs of six foods in a randomized manner within each session, so subjects could not predict the next pairing and had to respond in accordance with their preferences. We found individual differences in subjects’ preference and differences in six subjects’ preferences when comparing their selections in this test to selections made when trials were blocked by food pairing (tested previously: Huskisson et al., 2020). In in each trial of the second test we paired the food stimuli with a ‘chance’ symbol, representing a random reward of one of the six foods. Across species, each subject’s propensity to select chance over the known food varied by food type: when the known option was highly preferred, subjects were less likely to select the chance symbol. Additionally, 61.11% of the subjects’ rates of selecting foods in the first test showed a positive trend with the rates of selecting the same foods under conditions of uncertainty here; three of these subjects’ selection rates were significantly correlated between tests. Finally, if the food chimpanzees received for selecting the chance symbol was a preferred food, they were more likely to select chance again in the subsequent trial.

FlavorGraph: a large-scale food-chemical graph for generating food representations and recommending food pairings

Food pairing has not yet been fully pioneered, despite our everyday experience with food and the large amount of food data available on the web. The complementary food pairings discovered thus far created by the intuition of talented chefs, not by scientific knowledge or statistical learning. We introduce FlavorGraph which is a large-scale food graph by relations extracted from million food recipes and information of 1,561 flavor molecules from food databases. We analyze the chemical and statistical relations of FlavorGraph and apply our graph embedding method to better represent foods in dense vectors. Our graph embedding method is a modification of metapath2vec with an additional chemical property learning layer and quantitatively outperforms other baseline methods in food clustering. Food pairing suggestions made based on the food representations of FlavorGraph help achieve better results than previous works, and the suggestions can also be used to predict relations between compounds and foods. Our research offers a new perspective on not only food pairing techniques but also food science in general.

Umami potential of fermented beverages: Sake, wine, champagne, and beer

The free amino acid (FAA) contents of a special selection of fermented beverages have been measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC). The selection, which includes 8 sakes, 9 white, rosé, and sparkling wines, 9 genuine champagnes, as well as 5 types of beer, was made to uncover the umami potential of different types of fermented beverages, in particular whether long yeast contact and ageing may influence the contents of free glutamate that is known to elicit umami sensation. The data show that in particular sakes as well as some beers, wines and champagnes with long yeast contact contain appreciable amounts of free glutamate. The results are discussed in the context of food pairing where umami synergy can be achieved by combining fermented beverages with long yeast contact with food rich in free nucleotides.

Umami synergy as the scientific principle behind taste-pairing champagne and oysters

Food and flavour pairing are commonly used as an empirically based phenomenology by chefs and food innovators for creating delicious dishes. However, there is little if any science behind the pairing systems used, and it appears that pairing is determined by food culture and tradition rather than by chemical food composition. In contrast, the pairing implied by the synergy in the umami taste, elicited by free glutamate and free nucleotides, is scientifically founded on an allosteric action at the umami receptor, rendering eggs-bacon and cheese-ham delicious companions. Based on measurement of umami compounds in champagnes and oysters we suggest that a reason why champagne and oysters are considered good companions may be the presence of free glutamate in champagne, and free glutamate and 5′-nucleotides in oysters. By calculations of the effective umami potential we reveal which combinations of oysters and champagnes lead to the strongest umami taste. We also show that glutamate levels and total amount of free amino acids are higher in aged champagnes with long yeast contact, and that the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) has higher free glutamate and nucleotide content than the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) and is thus a better candidate to elicit synergistic umami taste.

와인과 한식메뉴의 조화도와 선호도에 대한 연구

As the importance of wine and food pairing has been emphasized in accordance with the growth of the domestic wine market, this study explored the harmony and preference of wine and Korean dishes perceived by non-expert wine consumers. A survey was conducted on wine consumers living in Seoul and the metropolitan area between September and October 2019. A total of 231 valid responses were used in the analysis. We investigated the harmony and the preferences for 60 kinds of pairing that perceives three kinds of sparkling wine, white wine, and red wine for each of the 20 pre-selected Korean dishes. A corresponding sample t-test was performed to investigate the difference between the harmony and the preferences. We used regression analysis to examine the contribution of harmony on the preferences. Twenty Korean dishes according to wine types were displayed in a quadrant matrix prepared based on harmony and preference. Our results show that the following pairings of Korean dishes with wine are perceived as harmonious: seafood and fried dishes for sparkling wine, seafood and raw meat for white wine, and meat and oily dishes for red wine. The pairing perceived to be harmonious was more preferred. We have confirmed the possibility of pairing wine and Korean food by applying the rules on texture, intensity, and flavor. The results will contribute to increasing the preference of the pairing and promoting wine consumption, and play a useful role in promoting and introducing K-food to foreigners.

What's in a Click? The Efficacy of Conditioned Reinforcement in Applied Animal Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Simple SummaryConditioned reinforcement, for example, clicker training, has become increasingly popular in recent decades. Hence, questions about the effectiveness of the conditioned reinforcer have become prominent in the animal training arena. This article summarizes the scientific literature on conditioned reinforcement in applied animal training settings (e.g., homes). It was found that dogs and horses were the most frequently studied animals. Clickers and food were the most often used training stimuli. Effect size analysis found a medium effect of clicker training. The literature reviewed here shows that conditioned reinforcement is an effective approach to change animal behavior; however, sizable information potentially related to its effectiveness was not clearly reported in the studies (e.g., food preferences). Although this review fills in a gap in the literature, it also points to the need for more research to further the understanding of conditioned reinforcement phenomena.A conditioned reinforcer is a stimulus that acquired its effectiveness to increase and maintain a target behavior on the basis of the individual’s history—e.g., pairings with other reinforcers. This systematic review synthesized findings on conditioned reinforcement in the applied animal training field. Thirty-four studies were included in the review and six studies were eligible for a meta-analysis on the effectiveness of behavioral interventions that implemented conditioned reinforcement (e.g., clicks, spoken word, or whistles paired with food). The majority of studies investigated conditioned reinforcement with dogs (47%, n = 16) and horses (30%, n = 10) implementing click–food pairings. All other species (cats, cattle, fish, goats, and monkeys) were equally distributed across types of conditioned (e.g., clicker or spoken word) and unconditioned reinforcers (e.g., food, water, or tactile). A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of conditioned reinforcement in behavioral interventions found a medium summary effect size (Tau-U 0.77; CI95% = [0.53, 0.89]), when comparing baseline, where no training was done, and treatment levels. Moderators of conditioned reinforcement effectiveness were species (e.g., horses) and research design (e.g., multiple-baseline designs). The small number of intervention-focused studies available limits the present findings and highlights the need for more systematic research into the effectiveness of conditioned reinforcement across species.

How Will We Dine? Prospective Shifts in International Haute Cuisine and Innovation beyond Kitchen and Plate.

Haute cuisine, the cooking style for fine dining at gourmet restaurants, has changed over the last decades and can be expected to evolve in the upcoming years. To engage in foresight, the purpose of this study is to identify a plausible future trend scenario for the haute cuisine sector within the next five to ten years, based on today’s chefs’ views. To achieve this goal, an international, two-stage Delphi study was conducted. The derived scenario suggests that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic will lead to significant restaurant bankruptcies and will raise creativity and innovation among the remaining ones. It is expected that haute cuisine tourism will grow and that menu prices will differ for customer segments. More haute cuisine restaurants will open in Asia and America. Local food will remain a major trend and will be complemented by insect as well as plant-based proteins and sophisticated nonalcoholic food pairings. Restaurant design and the use of scents will become more relevant. Also, private dining and fine dining at home will become more important. The scenario also includes negative projections. These findings can serve as a research agenda for future research in haute cuisine, including the extension of the innovation lens towards the restaurant and the business model. Practical implications include the necessity for haute cuisine restaurants to innovate to cope with increasing competition in several regions. Customers should be seen as co-creators of the value of haute cuisine.

The Contribution of Wild Edible Plants to the Mediterranean Diet: An Ethnobotanical Case Study Along the Coast of Campania (Southern Italy)

The Contribution of Wild Edible Plants to the Mediterranean Diet: An Ethnobotanical Case Study Along the Coast of Campania (Southern Italy). Wild edible plants, an essential component of people’s diets in the Mediterranean basin, are consumed because they have a positive influence on health, supplying the body with microelements, vitamins, phenols, flavonoids, antioxidants, and fiber. In this paper we provide a list of wild plants used in the local cuisine along the coast of Campania, highlighting the medicinal properties of the most widely used species. Fieldwork was conducted from April 2017 to September 2019; in all, 69 informants were interviewed. We carried out an extensive literature review searching both national and international journals for ethnobotanical articles concerning the whole of Italy and especially the region of Campania, published from 1963 to 2019. The relative frequency of citation (RFC) index for each species is provided. Based on the interviews, 85 species and subspecies distributed in 29 families are documented as being used as food. Asteraceae was the most cited family (26.5%) followed by Brassicaceae and Lamiaceae (7.2%). The culinary uses of 11 wild species (13.5% of the total) were hitherto unreported in the ethnobotanical literature for Campania. The present study confirms the persistence of traditional plant use in the region of Campania. Ethnobotanical data, as well as the phytochemical and nutritional profiles of the species in question, offer insights into designing new dishes such as food pairing with other ingredients to improve nutritional and/or sensory quality (e.g., bitterness reduction, flavor enhancement, antioxidant bioavailability).

Izmir Craft Beer Trail

Craft beer tourism is a type of special interest tourism, which is increasing in popularity in parallel with the growing interest and curiosity for novel, experimental, small-scale and artisan types of beer and related themes. As such, trails are gaining popularity, which integrate the opportunities to explore new tastes, methods of production and experimentation around craft beer and also complementing elements of food pairings, stories and heritage, shopping, places and landscapes around craft beer. These trails offer a more complete tourism product as well as a stronger sense of place, memorable tourist experiences and therefore opportunities for destination branding and overall promotion. In this context, an explorative field research has been conducted, possible participants have been identified and interviewed. As a result, the model for a craft beer trail in Izmir has been proposed and mapped, to include the places that produce and serve craft beer and related products, urban landmarks, accommodation and transportation, and a scheme for its management is presented. The trail is proposed to embrace and promote the natural and cultural landscape, social life, craft beer related and general cultural heritage and overall tourism attraction of Izmir, ultimately branding the city as a prominent craft beer destination. Additionally, the trail should provide product diversification as well as a means to increase occupancy rates and ease tourism congestion.

Which Fork Do I Use With My Bourbon? Setting the Table for Tastings, Food Pairings, Dinner and Cocktail Parties

Which Fork Do I Use With My Bourbon? Setting the Table for Tastings, Food Pairings, Dinner and Cocktail Parties

The role of sensory science in the evaluation of food pairing

Flavor pairing is the base of food product development. Moreover, foodstuffs are rarely consumed in an isolated manner, needing to study the sensory experience of food-beverage and food-food combinations. The field of flavor combination includes: the intrinsic arrangement of ingredients within a recipe; the combination of food products among them and with beverages; and the preparation of a whole meal. This review goes over the different definitions used to describe pairing and the sensory methods proposed in the literature.

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.

Beauty in artistic expressions through the eyes of networks and physics.

Beauty is subjective, and as such it, of course, cannot be defined in absolute terms. But we all know or feel when something is beautiful to us personally. And in such instances, methods of statistical physics and network science can be used to quantify and to better understand what it is that evokes that pleasant feeling, be it when reading a book or looking at a painting. Indeed, recent large-scale explorations of digital data have lifted the veil on many aspects of our artistic expressions that would remain forever hidden in smaller samples. From the determination of complexity and entropy of art paintings to the creation of the flavour network and the principles of food pairing, fascinating research at the interface of art, physics and network science abounds. We here review the existing literature, focusing in particular on culinary, visual, musical and literary arts. We also touch upon cultural history and culturomics, as well as on the connections between physics and the social sciences in general. The review shows that the synergies between these fields yield highly entertaining results that can often be enjoyed by layman and experts alike. In addition to its wider appeal, the reviewed research also has many applications, ranging from improved recommendation to the detection of plagiarism.

Exploring Attitudes and Reactions to Unfamiliar Food Pairings: An Examination of the Underlying Motivations and the Impact of Culinary Education

ABSTRACT A mixed-methodology study was conducted to better understand consumer attitudes and behaviors toward novel food pairings and the impact of culinary education. Focus groups were conducted to investigate the underlying motivational factors to the reactions and behaviors toward unfamiliar foods. The second phase of the study consisted of sensory evaluation by two separate cohorts, panelists with and without culinary education, of food products created through the novel pairings of foods. Panelists with culinary education expressed a greater overall liking for the animal-based pairing. Sensory-Affective and Ideational factors appeared to be underlying motivational factors of these hedonic reactions.

Persuasion Strategies on Instagram in Wine Communication and Branding

Abstract Objectives: On social media, or in the world of the so-called like economy, highly targeted advertising has become reality: whereas previously advertisers only suspected the whereabouts of their customers, now they know it exactly based on well-defined parameters. Likes have become a new standard of value. With the increased popularity of Like buttons, influencer marketing and content marketing have also gained in importance. This paper aims to explore the persuasion strategies used by visual content marketing as a tool of visual rhetoric. Methodology: After reviewing the relevant literature, the paper presents a case study from the field of wine communication: using the methodology of content analysis and a qualitative approach, it examines the visual and verbal characteristics of 100 Instagram posts of Hungarian wineries. The examination focused on content from a semiotic aspect, complementary verbal elements (captions, hashtags), the assumed intention of content marketing, and the characteristics of visual storytelling. Findings: Although wine communication is very much about creating a personal feeling, there was not a single person on 61 of the 100 examined Instagram photos. The potential of branded hashtags is exploited by almost every winery in their communication. The most dominant content types were the informative, aesthetically pleasing, and explicit advertising content. Suggestions: To obtain the loyalty of users, companies need a well-considered communication strategy tailored to the target audience. The most relevant social media principles are the following: long-term strategy, careful planning, conscious implementation, thorough information about and respect for the potential target audience, and content which is valuable and interesting for the target group and has real impact on its behaviour. It could also enhance user loyalty if posts had more added value. The methodology of storytelling could be exploited in wine communication for the following types of content: 1. advice and education: providing background knowledge (winemaking, viticulture, design, wine–food pairing) or instructions (“how to” videos e.g. on bottle opening); 2. help to users (information on moderate wine consumption, wine and a healthy lifestyle); 3. entertainment (people behind the bottle, family and historical stories, wine legends, anecdotes). In addition, creating a personal feeling is crucial in wine communication, which is specializing in handling uncertainty: winemakers can act as influencers in their field not only when selling wine but also in social media marketing.

The attitudes of Italian consumers towards jellyfish as novel food

The globalization of food markets and the recent upgrade of the European regulation on novel foods open up new possibilities for the introduction of edible jellyfish in the diet of Europeans. In spite of no tradition of eating jellyfish in Italy and, more generally, in Western countries, several Mediterranean jellyfish species have biological and nutritional features with a large potential as innovative, sustainable novel food and source of bioactive compounds. To evaluate the Italians’ attitude of considering jellyfish as food source, a survey has been carried out on a group of 1445 individuals. A questionnaire was designed to assess the jellyfish consumption attitude (JCA) of respondents and explore the effect of their individual traits (socio-demography, personality, behavior habits, neophobia, disgust sensitivity) on JCA. Gender, age, and travelling habits differently affected JCA. Possible culinary uses and food pairing of jellyfish were also significantly influenced by JCA. Individuals with the highest propensity to accept jellyfish as food are young people, familiar with the sea environment, with high education level or students, and frequent travelers. Food neophobia and sensitivity to disgust are confirmed as personality traits able to strongly impair the acceptability of a novel food. Finally, this work provides insights into the acceptance and rejection variables that should be taken into account when an unfamiliar new food product, such as jellyfish, is planned to be introduced in a new dietary culture and new markets.

Using consumer opinion to define New World fine wine: Insights for hospitality

Australia, the world’s 4th largest wine exporter by value, has implemented marketing to promote a link between fine wines and its provenance. However, to be successful it is necessary to first understand consumer perceptions of what constitutes a fine wine. An online survey was conducted with Australian wine consumers (n = 349) to define Australian fine wine based on sensory attributes, grape variety, wine region, label information, and food pairing, and how that definition differs as a function of consumer wine involvement. Overall, all consumers valued provenance, however highly involved wine Enthusiasts appeared to utilise more information and had broader sensory vocabulary than Aspirant and No Frills consumers. The identified sensory attributes, regions and preferred food pairings for fine Australian Chardonnay and Shiraz wines will help the wine and hospitality sectors to tailor its services and communication to incorporate fine wines in wine lists and their region specific marketing.