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Foodpairing® is a web-based recipe platform built for professional chefs. It combines 15+ years of Foodpairing flavor science with AI-powered tools for recipe creation, optimization, and inspiration. At its core is a database of 5,000+ ingredients with over 1 million pairing predictions — so every suggestion is grounded in flavor chemistry, not guesswork.

Most recipe apps show you what other chefs have already cooked. Foodpairing shows you what's possible — combinations you've never tried but that work because they share key flavor compounds. It's a creative tool, not a cookbook. Think of it as having a flavor scientist, a recipe writer, and a culinary AI assistant in one place, on call whenever you need them.

Foodpairing® is designed for professional chefs — from kitchen students discovering their craft to seasoned chefs running multiple restaurants. It's equally useful for pastry chefs, chocolatiers, and mixologists exploring flavor combinations beyond classical pairings.

Foodpairing® was founded in Ghent, Belgium by Bernard Lahousse, a scientist who pioneered the concept that ingredients sharing key flavor compounds taste great together. After many years of research and collaboration with Michelin-starred chefs worldwide, Foodpairing has distilled that science into an app — a tool built by and for the professional kitchen.

Not at all. Foodpairing gives you a scientific vocabulary for flavor, not a script to follow. Two chefs starting from the same ingredient will take completely different paths depending on their technique, season, cuisine, and instinct. Foodpairing expands what's possible — it doesn't prescribe what to cook.

Foodpairing is not available via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Via your browser you can install a shortcut to our web app.

Foodpairing is based on the principle that ingredients sharing key flavor molecules (volatile compounds) create harmonious combinations when used together in a dish. Every ingredient in the database has been analyzed for its unique flavor profile, and pairings are ranked based on how many and how significant those shared compounds are.

Each pairing shows a match strength — represented visually by dot size (small, medium, large). A large dot means a strong scientific match: the two ingredients share many significant flavor compounds. Scores reflect scientific analysis, not crowd opinion or trend data.

Yes. The database covers ingredients from across the globe, and the team is actively expanding coverage for Asian markets, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Southeast Asian ingredients.

The core database covers culinary ingredients. Branded products are generally not included — the database focuses on raw ingredients and core preparations.

Roasting, fermenting, and other techniques change an ingredient's flavor profile. Some ingredients have preparation methods if the data is available. This is an area of active development.

Foodpairing is built around four core areas: a 'Create' section, a recipe 'Library', 'Ask' Foodpairing and our global 'Community'. On the Create tab, you explore scientifically validated ingredient combinations — starting from any ingredient and building a flavor map in real time. From there, you create recipes: dishes, components, or save pairings and recipes in your Library, either manually or via a conversation with your AI chef assistant in the 'Ask Foodpairing' tab. You can also optimize recipes or swap ingredients from recipes you already have. Finally, you can share your work — with your kitchen team, or with the broader Foodpairing Community.

Foodpairing organizes your work into three recipe types: a Dish (complete recipe with ingredients, method, and plating), a Component (a reusable building block like a sauce, gel, or garnish), and a Pairing (a saved collection of ingredients that work well together). Components can be nested inside dishes, and pairings can be converted into recipes with one click.

You have several options: describe what you want in natural language and the AI builds a full recipe from scratch; select ingredients on the 'Create' tab and ask AI to write the recipe around them; photograph a finished dish and AI extracts the recipe from the image; scan a printed recipe card or upload a PDF cookbook page; or type everything in manually. Every recipe tracks how it was created.

Yes — this is one of the most useful features for working chefs. Upload, create or enter an existing recipe and Foodpairing AI will suggest improvements: ingredient swaps that strengthen the flavor pairing logic, technique adjustments, dietary adaptations, or seasonal substitutions. Available on Professional and Business plans.

Yes. The Ask feature is a conversational culinary assistant that understands Foodpairing science. You can ask anything from "what goes with yuzu in a hot sauce?" to "give me three components that bridge this pairing to an autumn tasting menu."

Yes. You can generate professional-style food photography for any recipe using AI image generation. This is useful for menu development or social media content. Image generation draws from your AI usage allowance.

Yes. You can scan or photograph handwritten recipe cards, printed recipes, or cookbook pages and Foodpairing will extract and structure them automatically. You can also upload PDFs. This makes it easy to migrate your existing library into Foodpairing without retyping everything.

Your library is your personal recipe archive. Organize recipes using folders, tags, and collections (curated sets with a cover image — useful for seasonal menus or client proposals). You can mark recipes as favorites, archive ones you're not using, and search across the entire library by name, ingredient, or description.

Yes. Every recipe can generate a public link that anyone can view without logging in. You can also share recipes within the Foodpairing community for other members to discover, like, and comment on.

Yes. The community section shows recipes shared by other users. You can follow chefs whose work interests you, rate recipes, and leave comments. Professional and Business plan users also get access to trending ingredients and pairings — useful for staying on top of what's gaining traction across the platform.

Yes. By default, all your recipes are private unless you choose to share them. Sharing is always your decision.

Every AI-powered action in Foodpairing — generating a recipe, optimising a recipe, creating an image, extracting a recipe from a photo or PDF — draws from your monthly AI usage allowance. Browsing the ingredient database, searching for pairings, and managing your library are always free and never count towards your usage.

This depends on your plan. Starter is designed for occasional use — ideal when you want to explore AI-assisted recipe development without heavy volume. Professional covers regular day-to-day use across your workflow. Business is built for high-volume and team use. Your usage allowance resets each billing cycle. See the pricing page for full details per plan.

You can purchase additional usage at any time without upgrading your plan. Your monthly allowance is used first; additional usage kicks in automatically once your monthly balance runs out. Additional usage is valid for 6 months. See the pricing page for top-up options.

AI features become temporarily unavailable until your usage resets at the start of your next billing cycle — or immediately if you purchase additional usage. Pairing search, your recipe library, and all non-AI functions continue to work normally.

Yes. Professional and Business plan holders can create a shared team workspace. Team members share a recipe library. This is designed for restaurant teams, R&D kitchens, and culinary schools where multiple people are working on the same menus.

The team owner pays for the base plan plus additional collaborator seats at €9.99 per seat per month. Each collaborator has a personal AI usage allowance. Professional and Business plans include unlimited viewer seats — people who can browse the team library but can't edit or use AI features.

Teams have three roles: Owner (full access and billing), Collaborator (full access), and Viewer (read-only access). Roles can be assigned and changed by the team owner.

Yes. Schools can set up team workspaces that give students access to the pairing database and community recipes, while instructors manage the full toolset. Contact us at info@foodpairing.com for educational pricing and group arrangements.

Go to inspire.foodpairing.com, create an account and validate your email. Your free 14-day trial begins immediately. You can upgrade to a paid subscription at any time from within the app.

Yes. Monthly plans renew each month on the same date. You'll receive a notification before renewal. You can cancel at any time from your account settings.

You can cancel your subscription directly from Account Settings under Manage Subscription. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period. There is a 14-day right of withdrawal — if you've just subscribed and want to cancel, contact us within 14 days for a full refund.

Your recipe library becomes inaccessible once your subscription is cancelled. Please export your recipes before cancelling. If you reactivate your subscription, your recipes will be recovered.

No. Each account is personal and licensed to one user. If you want to share access with colleagues, use the team feature — it's built for exactly that, with proper role management and a shared AI usage allowance.

Yes. Update your billing details with your company name, VAT number, and address under Account Settings. All invoices are available for download in your account.

Yes. Recipes you create, upload, or enter manually remain yours. You can share them publicly, keep them private, or delete them at any time.

Foodpairing uses anonymized and aggregated usage data to improve the platform and its models. Your individual recipes are not sold to third parties. For full details, see the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Yes. Foodpairing NV is a Belgian company operating under EU law. The platform includes a cookie consent manager, and your data rights (access, correction, deletion) are covered in the Privacy Policy.

Foodpairing runs in any modern browser — Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge. It's fully responsive on desktop, tablet, and mobile. No download or installation required.

The interface is currently in English. Ingredient search supports multiple languages — with 24 languages and over 198,000 ingredient name variants and synonyms in the database — so you can search in French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Japanese, and more. Full interface translations are planned.

You can reach us via info@foodpairing.com. Support is available on weekdays during CET business hours.

We're actively developing Foodpairing and want to hear from chefs. Use the in-app feedback button or send your thoughts to info@foodpairing.com. Chef feedback directly shapes what we build next.

Yes. Foodpairing is building a global partner network of trained professionals for educational sessions, and regularly collaborates with culinary schools, restaurant groups, and food industry events. Contact us via info@foodpairing.com if you are interested in becoming a certified Foodpairing trainer or if you are looking for tailored training options.