Taste and smell are two separate and distinct senses, yet both work hand in hand to optimise our culinary experience. Our taste is able to distinguish between the basics when our tongue is exposed to food: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Smell however, can refine flavours, identifying molecules released in the aroma of food. These volatile aromatic vapours are detected by our olfactory system, enabling us to differentiate one flavour from another, no matter how similar.

Both interconnected in the science of multisensory eating that if one were without the other, the practice of eating would most probably not be as exciting or fulfilling.

Food pairing is a technique that allows us to get the most out of our food, with traditional flavours setting the backdrop. Despite being considered conventional or ‘classic’, they took many years to evolve through means of trial and error. Some of these classics include: ham and pineapple, strawberries and champagne, turkey and cranberry, tomato and basil, lemon and honey, peanut butter and jelly and pork and apple.

The reasoning behind these well-fitted foods, lies potentially with similarities in the molecular compounds that they exhibit, consequently known as molecular profiling.

I looked back to when I had my own experiences with less-than-ordinary food pairings. The most memorable for me was from my grandmother. Coming from a village in India, she had a plentiful supply of mangoes and a love for chillies! I remember going to my grandparents’ for lunches and dinners and she would put chilli powder and salt on almost everything! As a child, I dreaded having to eat this combination, especially on my fruit salad, but as an adult I can’t get enough of this flavour combination, having exposed it to my palette again!
I must note however that I’ve not tried this combination in a recipe before, but let’s see how it turns out!

So I’d like to dedicate this paired oddity to my grandmother, a legend of a woman who provided nothing but wonderful food.

I would also like to thank @progressivechef for bringing back Steemit Iron Chef for its second 2018 round and who's contest has kept me creating in the kitchen!

The dishes I’d like to experiment with are:

Mango, chilli and cardamom gel with chilli air; spicy vanilla panna cotta with mango puree and dried mango infused with red hot chilli pepper syrup; mango and chilli biscuit crumbs; mango fondant popsickle

Spicy vanilla panna cotta with mango puree and dried mango infused with red hot chilli pepper syrup

In a saucepan, combine 100ml milk and 200ml double cream with 35g sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract and 1 red finger chilli. Bring to a simmer then strain through a fine sieve. Return back to the saucepan and add a pre-soaked sheet of gelatine. Stir until dissolved then pour into moulds then give the mixture a quick whisk to create a frothy surface. Remove the froth as this will be the air to be spooned onto the gel in the later stage of plating. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours to allow the panna cotta to set.

In the mean time, make the mango puree by blitzing 2 large, ripe mangoes with 1 tbsp icing sugar and the juice of ½ a lemon and refrigerate until serving.

In another saucepan filled with 250ml water, add 2 red chillies, 200g sugar and 100g dried mango chunks. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, ensuring the sugar has fully dissolved and the spicy syrup fully penetrated the mango.
Remove the mango from the syrup and allow to cool before decorating the panna cotta. Reserve the syrup and the sweet chillies for later on.

Mango, chilli and cardamom gel with chilli air

In a saucepan, combine 150ml mango juice with 1 tsp agar, 5 crushed cardamom pods and 2 fresh red chillies. Bring to the boil whilst stirring then pour into moulds after straining through a sieve to remove the chillies and cardamom pods. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before serving.

For a bit of diversity on the plate I also made a clear gel with the hot chilli pepper syrup, bringing to the boil 200ml chilli syrup with 5g agar powder. I then poured into moulds and added some chopped mango and refrigerated for 1-2 hours also.

The air can be spooned onto the gel before serving.

Mango-chilli biscuit crumbs

In a food processor, whizz together 120g butter, 40g caster sugar, 80g finely chopped dried mango pieces, 60ml milk, 10 peppercorns and 1tsp vanilla extract to achieve a creamy paste. Pour into a bowl and add 150g plain flour. Knead into a dough and roll out the biscuits.

It may be evident by now that I was clean out of flour and had no time to grab any more so I had to make do with the meagre few grams or so I had remaining in my cupboard, just enough for my SIC plate! But no worries, the recipe I’ve provided will still work to provide you with a lot more than 2 biscuits!

Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes then leave to cool before crushing into crumbs for this dish (the rest can be saved for tea-dunking later on!).

Mango fondant popsickle with candied red chilli

I have actually never made fondant icing and was always aware that it required some real strength for the rolling- and I was right! An extremely stiff and sticky mixture to work with that requires much kneading and rolling- you have been warned!

Sift 200g icing sugar into a bowl. Add 3 tsp water, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring at each stage. Be prepared for the mixture to get stiff to the point at which it can no longer be stirred with the spoon- at this point, slap it onto a surface dusted with icing sugar and cornflour and knead for at least 7-10 minutes until a smooth, white dough is obtained.

Work 100g chopped dried mango and some finely chopped candied chillies into the sugar dough until evenly distributed. The fondant icing can then finally be shaped into little spheres.