Abstract Aromatic similarity is often mentioned by culinary experts and Sommeliers as a basic principle for matching food and beverages. The aim of this study was to investigate how this pairing principle modulates consumers’ judgment of pairings. Two kinds of beverage-food pairing were considered: syrup based lemon soft drink paired with aromatized dairy product (experiment 1) and beer flavoured with either lemon or smoky aroma paired with savoury verrines (experiment 2). In each experiment the flavoured drinks were associated with food flavoured with either the same aroma or another one, leading to two contrasting levels of aromatic similarity. We hypothesized that aromatic similarity would increase the liking of the pairing by increasing perceived harmony and homogeneity and decreasing complexity. Pairings were assessed by a group of about 50 participants in a within experimental design. Experiment 1 confirmed our hypotheses. The pair that shared an aroma was preferred over the pair with different aromas. Aromatic similarity also increased the pairing’s perceived harmony and homogeneity and decreased the pairing’s complexity. Experiment 2 also supported our hypothesis but to a lesser extent. For lemon beer pairings, aromatic similarity induced an increase in harmony and homogeneity but did not affect complexity. In contrast, for smoky beer pairings, aromatic similarity did not affect harmony or homogeneity but induced a decrease in complexity. Moreover no effect or only a marginal effect was observed on liking. We suggest a model that could account for these results in which aromatic similarity would impact liking of the pair by modulating collative properties, specifically harmony and complexity, of the food-beverage pairing.

中文翻译：

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芳香相似性在食品和饮料搭配中的作用

摘要 芳香相似性经常被烹饪专家和侍酒师提及，作为搭配食物和饮料的基本原则。本研究的目的是调查这种配对原则如何调节消费者对配对的判断。考虑了两种饮料-食物搭配：糖浆柠檬软饮料搭配芳香乳制品（实验 1）和用柠檬或烟熏香气搭配咸味维林斯调味的啤酒（实验 2）。在每个实验中，调味饮料都与用相同香气或另一种香气调味的食物相关联，导致两个对比水平的香气相似性。我们假设芳香相似性会通过增加感知的和谐和同质性以及降低复杂性来增加配对的喜好。配对由一组约 50 名参与者在内部实验设计中进行评估。实验 1 证实了我们的假设。具有相同香气的那对比具有不同香气的那对更受欢迎。芳香的相似性也增加了配对的感知和谐和同质性，并降低了配对的复杂性。实验 2 也支持我们的假设，但程度较轻。对于柠檬啤酒搭配，芳香相似性导致和谐和同质性增加，但不影响复杂性。相比之下，对于烟熏啤酒搭配，香气相似性不会影响和谐或同质性，但会降低复杂性。此外，没有观察到对喜欢的影响或仅观察到边际影响。