I like to think of myself as a decent chef, but the fact of the matter is that I rely pretty heavily on recipes to guide my dinner endeavors. In fact, I feel more comfortable experimenting with baking than I do with cooking. Baking is a science, and I can typically anticipate if mixing up the ingredients that I put into a macaron or a cookie is going to work or not. Cooking, on the other hand, is an art. There are no real rules about which foods you can or can’t serve together, and some of the best dishes are those that combine ingredients you’d never think to put together (see: Chopped).

I picked up a copy of The Flavor Thesaurus last month to see what it could teach me about food pairings, and it’s been a lot of fun to flip through the book for ideas! The book is divided into taste sections (Sweet, Meaty, Earthy, etc.), and each food within a category is paired with as many of the other foods as possible. Some of the combinations are pretty obvious (Strawberry and Chocolate) while others are surprising (Lamb and… Anchovy? Apparently the latter makes a nice flavor enhancer).

Despite being an interesting and helpful guidebook, this is not a book of recipes. Occasionally there are suggestions for how to pair two flavors in a creative way, but sometimes it’s as simple as adding both elements to a salad or just eating them together. I’ve got my eye on the suggestion for a strawberry vinaigrette drizzled over fresh avocado, and I’m very intrigued by the idea of thyme and chocolate!

I’ll let you know how it goes when I test out some of the more unusual combinations! What’s your favorite unlikely food pairing?