A study published yesterday by Indiana University got into the nitty-gritty of how recipes work. The most interesting insight? Western recipes tend to mix ingredients that have flavor chemicals in common, while East Asian recipes tend to combine ingredients that taste totally different from each other. Or, in slightly more technical terms: “North Americans and Western Europeans love a good mix of alpha-terpineol, 4-methylpentanoic acid and ethyl propionate for dinner, flavor compounds shared in popular ingredients like tomatoes, parmesan cheese and white wine. Authentic East Asian recipes, on the other hand, tend to avoid mixing ingredients with many shared flavor compounds.” (via Western and Asian Recipes Are Different Down to the Flavor Chemistry: BA Daily: Blogs : bonappetit.com)
