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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Matching beer with food : pairing principles, underlying mechanisms and a focus on aromatic similarity

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description

Pairing between beer and dishes emerges as a new trend in France. Beer promoters or gastronomy professionals need to offer high-quality advices in terms of beer and food pairing to their customers. Within this context, the objective of the research was to identify pairing principles and to better understand the underlying perceptual mechanisms. Determinants of food and beverage pairing were first analysed from experts’ discourses. Results showed that food and beverage pairings are governed by perceptual, conceptual and affective features, related to physio-chemical, perceptual and cognitive processes. Experts often mentioned “Aromatic Similarity” as one of the main pairing principles. This “Aromatic similarity” principle consists in matching two products sharing similar aromas. Underlying perceptual mechanisms were then investigated. Results showed that aromatic similarity in food and beverage generally increases harmony and homogeneity and decreases complexity of the match. These effects can be reinforced by orientating the attentional focus on the shared aroma. From a theoretical point of view, this work concludes that beer and food pairing includes sensory dimensions with the search for harmony, as well as symbolic and contextual dimensions. From an applied point of view, this work provides useful information to gastronomy professionals with recent knowledge on perceptual mechanisms underlying food and beverage pairing principles.