One of the things I did when first learning to cook was to purchase a few herbs, and spices every payday, until I had virtually everything our local stores had to offer. Then I took the top off of a few of them, and took a good whif, memorizing the names and odors of each. Eventually, I could close my eyes, randomly pick something out of my pantry, smell it, and know what it was. This allows me to play multiple flavors around in my head to give me an idea if flavors will pair well together. After that, as has been said by all, flavor is subjective. For instance, mint sauce with lambis a well known flavor combination. I suspect that it is because lamb can be gamey in flavor, and many people want so something to dilute the game flavor. Personally, I love tht gaminess, and hate the flavor of mint. So for me, it doesn't work. Rather, I choose herbs and spices that will enhance, or support the natural flavor of lamb. Think about the flavors of garlic, and onion, and apple, salt, and black pepper. Put them together in your head, and then think how any one of them, or maybe all of them would work with lamb. Now put together in you mind nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and say, blood orange. I think the herbs and spices would work well with navy beans, or any of the winter squashes, as long as you removed the blood orange, but not well with the lamb.
Try to balance flavors that will compliment each other. It become intuitive after a while. Over time, and with practice, it become natural to your cooking to determine which flavors you enjoy together. And yes, poultry loves citrus, especially lemon, lime, orange, but maybe not grapefruit. Pork loves stone fruits, apple, pineapple, , cinnamon, sage, thyme, rosemary, basil, cumin and coriander, salt, peppr, and a host of other flavors. Try a light dusting of Chinese 5-spice powder on your next pork chops, with salt and crushed pineapple. A rasin based sauce goes great with smoke and salty pork products, or pork ribs, and with lamb and goat. With beef, opt for more savory flavors to enhance the natural flavor of the beef. And hot peppers, when they go great with everything but dessert, and even with some desserts.
Learning to balance flavors, in my opinion, can only be attained by experience. Books will give you examples of recipes that contain ingredients that will work together, but you have to learn by experience. Even when you become very good at creating great, ballanced flavors in you preperations, you will sometimes fail miserably. I have put together flavors that were amazing. And I have put together flavors that I thought were natural for each othr, but when made turned out to be horrible. We learn from both our successes and flavors in everything we do, including cooking. In the world of cooking, just as in the discipline of physics, there is just soo much information, and so many questions, that you will never know everything about either, even if you were to devote every waking moment to the study of either. My advise, learn what you can in the time available, and most importantly, enjoy the process.
Now you know why Buckytom tagged me with Chief Longwind of the North. Hi Bucky.
Seeeeeeya' Chief Longwind
"There is no success that justifies failure within the home."
There is a marvellous book which is about this very subject and it is one of the prizes on offer (there is a choice of prizes). But I promise you this one is the book you want and need ! It was won last month by @LadyBelle.
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