{"id":33383,"date":"2020-07-29T09:39:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T15:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=33383"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:24:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T18:24:11","slug":"flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/","title":{"rendered":"Flavor pairing: Try lime and melon or berries and basil for a big flavor boost"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"lime
Learn about flavor pairing. Use salt, acidity and sweetness to make great summertime foods. Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is the time of the year when a squeeze of lime or lemon just tastes perfect with that wedge of watermelon. Or a slather of mayonnaise or sweet cream butter simply must be the coat for that cob of corn.<\/p>\n

Sure, summer is a sort of Tinder app for food and flavor pairings because so many of them pop \u2018round just now. Slices of chin-dripping juicy tomato? Swipe right on the fresh basil.<\/p>\n

But reasons other than seasonality underlie many matches of a particular food with its perfect flavor or ingredient partner. Understanding why can help us recreate delicious marriages of foods all year long.<\/p>\n

Flavor pairing: acidity and sweetness<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We\u2019re going to make some lemonade here, but in steps. Water plus sugar tastes OK, if a bit boring after the third sip. Water plus lemon juice tastes interesting, if a tad difficult from even the first sip. Water plus sugar plus lemon juice tastes great. All three elements are in there just as they were when merely paired, but they\u2019re best all three together.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the balance of certain tastes is best. Balance done right is most refreshing, most interesting.<\/p>\n

Plain melon or mango is delicious enough, but with a splash of something acidic (citrus juice, cider or rice vinegar, aged balsamic, plain yogurt) there\u2019s not only more flavor, there\u2019s more electricity, more awesomeness.

Learn more cooking tips and great recipes<\/a> from Bill St. John.<\/div>\n

Keep the happy marriage of acidity and sweetness in mind in your yearlong cooking, especially when fashioning desserts. Ice cream is great, but even better with the acidity that chocolate provides. Ripe (even overripe) fruit makes for terrific tarts, pies, and confections, but honey\u2019s acid or the tang of citrus or buttermilk can tame what might cloy.<\/p>\n

Acidity isn\u2019t just for dessert, though, It balances, even enhances, other cooked foods that are sweet on the plate even before the final course. Just so, a squeeze of lemon over roasted winter root vegetables (with their sugars caramelized from the heat of the oven) is the kind of bad math that works: 1+1=3. Caramel plus citrus makes for many additional flavors on the tongue. Try it.<\/p>\n

Flavor pairing: sweet and salty flavors enhance one another<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Salt provides similar balance in matches of foods that are either sweet or tart alone.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t the fat in the prosciutto that is \u201ccut\u201d with the sweetness of the melon that it wraps. It\u2019s the salt in the ham (from its cure) that balances the fruit sugar. Likewise, a zip-line of lemon juice doesn\u2019t eliminate the brininess of the oyster or clam, it balances salt against acid, thereby making the taste of the whole more interesting.<\/p>\n

If the combination of prosciutto and melon rings your chimes, try prosciutto with any of many other sweet or ripe fruits: mango, papaya, stone fruit (peach, plum, apricot, nectarine), pineapple, orange, muscat grapes, kiwi, star fruit, and so on.<\/p>\n

We can reach the apex of flavor pairing saltiness with both acidity and sweetness when marrying cheeses (major depositories of salt) with foods such as marmalade, honey, ripe fruits such as figs or dates, and drops of aged balsamic, all foods that marry both sweetness and acidity to the salt of cheese.<\/p>\n

This is also why the Hawaiian pizza (cheese, pineapple, ham or Canadian bacon) shall not perish from the earth.<\/p>\n

\"cutting
Acidity from lemon, lime and vinegar brings out other flavors. Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Flavor pairing: the<\/strong>\u00a0accents<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I like to think that the real reason that we pair ripe summer tomatoes with basil (or, for that matter, lamb with mint sauce or salmon with lemon) is diversion, even distraction.<\/p>\n

A truly magnificent ripe tomato is just too. much. beauty. Its overwhelming aesthetic must be tamed in order to process it all. Basil snaps the mind back to attention, plants it back on earth.<\/p>\n

So does mint on ripe berry, or mint with the funk of lamb. Succulent, oil-rich salmon, well, it can pile on too much to matter in the mouth. Thank you, edge of lemon, you frame this baroque so well.<\/p>\n

And what is it, then, with melted butter on corn, or the great Mexican combination of grilled corn (elote) with mayonnaise or crema? Aren\u2019t these examples of too much \u201ctoo much,\u201d with nothing such as something green or acid to balance the richness?<\/p>\n

Well, that is simply the human thing to do come summertime, pile rich on rich, throw sweet on top of sweet.<\/p>\n

You have a problem with that?<\/p>\n

Balsamic and Basil Berry Salad<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From barefeetinthekitchen.com<\/a>; serves 6-8<\/p>\n

Note: The sugar in the recipe below is optional. Only add it if the berries aren’t quite as ripe or as sweet as you would like.<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/h3>\n

2\u00a0pounds\u00a0fresh strawberries\u00a0quartered or cut bite-size<\/p>\n

12\u00a0ounces\u00a0fresh blueberries<\/p>\n

2\u00a0tablespoons\u00a0traditional or white balsamic vinegar<\/p>\n

1\u00a0tablespoon\u00a0olive oil<\/p>\n

1\/8\u00a0teaspoon\u00a0kosher salt<\/p>\n

1 tablespoon white sugar (optional)<\/p>\n

8\u00a0basil leaves\u00a0sliced very thin<\/p>\n

Directions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Combine the strawberries and blueberries in a medium-size bowl. Drizzle with balsamic and oil. Sprinkle with salt, and with sugar if desired. Stir gently to coat. Sprinkle with basil and toss once more. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to an hour.<\/p>\n

Lime-Mint Melon Salad<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From tablespoon.com<\/a>; serves 6<\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1 1\/2 cups 1\/2-inch cubes honeydew melon (1\/2 medium)<\/p>\n

1 1\/2 cups 1\/2-inch cubes cantaloupe (1\/2 medium)<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon grated lime peel<\/p>\n

3 tablespoons lime juice<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried mint leaves<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon honey<\/p>\n

1\/4 teaspoon salt<\/p>\n

Directions<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In medium glass or plastic bowl, toss ingredients. Cover; refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.<\/p>\n

You may reach Bill St John at billstjohn@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the time of the year when a squeeze of lime or lemon just tastes perfect with that wedge of watermelon. Or a slather of mayonnaise or sweet cream butter simply must be the coat for that cob of corn. Sure, summer is a sort of Tinder app for food and flavor pairings because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2197,"featured_media":33406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4799,2366,9187,4415],"class_list":["post-33383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-living","tag-bill-st-john","tag-healthy-recipes","tag-readysetco","tag-recipes"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlavor pairing: Try lime and melon, basil and berries - UCHealth Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When flavor pairing, melding two elements is great but blending three -- salt, sweetness and acidity -- can boost flavor up another notch.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flavor pairing: Try lime and melon or berries and basil for a big flavor boost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When flavor pairing, melding two elements is great but blending three -- salt, sweetness and acidity -- can boost flavor up another notch.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UCHealth Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uchealthorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-29T15:39:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T18:24:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/07\/28162712\/Getty-watermelon-limes-tiny.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bill St. John, for UCHealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@uchealth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bill St. John, for UCHealth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bill St. John, for UCHealth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#\/schema\/person\/6fab47ae1c5b24834f25747358a6c8e3\"},\"headline\":\"Flavor pairing: Try lime and melon or berries and basil for a big flavor boost\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-29T15:39:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T18:24:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/\"},\"wordCount\":1007,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/flavor-pairing-try-lime-and-melon-basil-and-berries\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/07\/28162712\/Getty-watermelon-limes-tiny.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Bill St. John\",\"Healthy recipes\",\"Ready. 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