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I'd love to see a tool that allows one to input ingredients and see flavor overlaps. It'd be really interesting to use this with one's favorite foods and use it

I'd love to see a tool that allows one to input ingredients and see flavor overlaps. It'd be really interesting to use this with one's favorite foods and use it to build recommendations for others.

scribu 12y ago
The tricky part would be getting the molecular breakdown for each ingredient. I'm not sure if that sort of data is readily available.
- athenot 12y ago
  It could model what happens in a smoothie blender (with no heat and assuming no oxydation) but it would not account for the reactions occurring during cooking. Thinks like the Maillard reaction[0], breakdowns of various oils, etc. [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
- jp555 12y ago
  I'd think you'd only need a breakdown of the taste receptor stimulating compounds. But even then whether food tastes good or not is very complex and goes WAY beyond taste receptors. There's the obvious smell and the way it looks, but even the sounds around you while eating, how hungry you are, what your drinking, the temperature of your beverage, the room's light levels, temperature, and humidity, and even the height of the table, what kind of chair you're sitting in, and the texture of your napkin will affect how you perceive the taste of a meal.
sporkenfang 12y ago
This would be handy if matched against a database of recipes: e.g., I'm craving something that tastes like x, here are y recipes that taste a lot like x based on their ingredients and flavour profiles, but are (perhaps subtly) different; this way you could have some variety in what you cook and still feel as if you ate what sounded good.
uberstuber 12y ago
Something like The Flavor Bible [0] but in a database would be really nice. [0] http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316118400/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3521939033&ref=pd_sl_81fgm99dk7_e http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316118400/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3521...

I'd love to see a tool that allows one to input ingredients and see flavor overlaps. It'd be really interesting to use this with one's favorite foods and use it to build recommendations for others.

scribu 12y ago

The tricky part would be getting the molecular breakdown for each ingredient. I'm not sure if that sort of data is readily available.

athenot 12y ago
It could model what happens in a smoothie blender (with no heat and assuming no oxydation) but it would not account for the reactions occurring during cooking. Thinks like the Maillard reaction[0], breakdowns of various oils, etc. [0]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
jp555 12y ago
I'd think you'd only need a breakdown of the taste receptor stimulating compounds. But even then whether food tastes good or not is very complex and goes WAY beyond taste receptors. There's the obvious smell and the way it looks, but even the sounds around you while eating, how hungry you are, what your drinking, the temperature of your beverage, the room's light levels, temperature, and humidity, and even the height of the table, what kind of chair you're sitting in, and the texture of your napkin will affect how you perceive the taste of a meal.

sporkenfang 12y ago

This would be handy if matched against a database of recipes: e.g., I'm craving something that tastes like x, here are y recipes that taste a lot like x based on their ingredients and flavour profiles, but are (perhaps subtly) different; this way you could have some variety in what you cook and still feel as if you ate what sounded good.

uberstuber 12y ago

Something like The Flavor Bible [0] but in a database would be really nice. [0] http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316118400/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3521939033&ref=pd_sl_81fgm99dk7_e http://www.amazon.com/dp/0316118400/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3521...