Dark chocolate, coffee and even mackeral have been scientifically proven as potential perfect flavour pairings – for lamb.
The research looked at the molecular make-up of lamb in order to discover foods that share similar flavour compounds.
These could pair well when eaten within lamb recipes, enhancing the flavours of each.
Other compatible tastes included shrimp, whiskey and even brie cheese, with peanuts, potatoes and grapefruit also providing unusual – yet scientifically perfect – pairings.
Food scientist and flavour expert Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart collaborated with Simply Beef and Lamb to release the unusual findings.
Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart said: “While many of these ingredients are common in cooking, people can often be afraid to put bold flavours together.
“This research shows that the traditional pairings of rosemary or mint may not be the best food to bring out all of the flavours lamb has to offer.
“People can therefore afford to be a bit bolder in their choices.”
Dark chocolate and coffee, both strong bold bitter flavours, share a number of notes with cooked lamb, with dark chocolate having the greatest similarity.
And both whiskey and sake were revealed as alcoholic beverages sharing the largest number of aromas with roasted lamb, in place of the more traditional glass of red wine.
Specifically, sake and lamb both contain an aroma described as having cocoa and almond notes, two flavours not typically highlighted when tasting lamb.
Foods that are new potential pairings for lamb:
• Dark chocolate
• Coffee
• Honey
• Sake
• Mackerel
• Beef
• Pumpkin seed
• Grapefruit
• Cabbage
• Shrimp
