Each Mini Pairings Guide is designed to help you study an ingredient in a practical, approachable way. Unlike our monthly, subscribers-only Pairings Guides, which explore an ingredient in depth, these mini guides are designed to be quick, focused and easy to digest. Think of them as a fast introduction to an ingredient’s flavour, aroma, best pairings and culinary potential.

A simple way to spark ideas, build confidence and inspire creativity in the kitchen.

You’ll learn what it tastes like, what makes it unique, how to cook with it, and which ingredients bring out its best qualities.

My hope is that these guides spark your imagination and help you think beyond recipes.

Because once you understand an ingredient, you can take it in countless directions.

MINT:

There is something wonderfully optimistic about mint. Its scent is cool and clean, carrying notes of sweet grass, citrus and summer gardens. A handful of leaves can transform a dish, bringing freshness where there was richness and brightness where there was sweetness. Mint rarely demands attention for itself; instead, it has a gift for making other ingredients taste more vividly of themselves.

Mint is bright, cooling and herbaceous, with gentle sweetness and subtle citrus notes that bring freshness and lift to a dish.

Now it's your turn—what would you pair with mint?

Here's to seeing ingredients not for what they are, but for what they could become.🌿✨

Happy cooking,

Ana

A note from Ana —

This is the first edition of our Pairings Guide series.

I decided to leave this one open so you can explore the world we’re building: flavour studies, ingredient pairings, and thoughtful culinary inspiration.

Future Pairings Briefs will be reserved for subscribers, but I wanted to share this first issue as an introduction to our approach and the ideas that inspire our work.

I hope you enjoy it.

(TECHNICAL NOTE: There is a LOT of Tomato stuff here and it might not all fit in your email. If so, just hit VIEW ENTIRE MESSAGE at the end of the email, or head to the app or online version.)

Bright. Red. Jammy. Mineral. Umami-rich.

FLAVOUR DNA

TOMATO

Tomato is one of the most emotionally complete ingredients in cooking —balancing brightness, sweetness, water, and umami in a way few ingredients can.
Its flavour changes dramatically depending on ripeness, variety, and preparation, which is why it appears across nearly every cuisine in the world.

Tomatoes also transform beautifully with time and temperature. Raw tomatoes feel vibrant and juicy, while roasting or slow cooking concentrates their sugars and creates a deeper, more comforting flavour. When experimenting with tomatoes, think about the balance between acidity, fat, salt, and texture, and how different cooking methods can reveal entirely different sides of the ingredient.

Flavour Map — Tomato

1. Primary Notes
   Bright acidity • Natural sweetness • Umami • Green freshness

2. Secondary Notes
   Minerality • Floral undertones • Soft bitterness • Gentle savoriness

3. Raw Tomato
   Fresh • Watery • Sharp • Herbal • Slightly grassy

4. Roasted Tomato
   Jammy • Sweet • Concentrated • Caramelized

5. Slow-Cooked Tomato
   Deep umami • Rich • Rounded • Comforting

6. Marinated Tomato
   Soft • Salty • Bright • Absorbent • Olive-oil rich

7. Texture Notes
   Juicy • Silky • Pulpy • Velvety

8. Aromatic Notes
   Vine leaf • Fresh herbs • Sun-warmed fruit • Earthiness

   

To understand tomato is to understand contrast:

• acidity and sweetness,

• freshness and umami,

• delicacy and depth.

These pairings reveal the many directions a single ingredient can take when flavour is approached with intention.

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

For More Umami

• Kelp

• Nori

• Mushroom Powder

• Lion’s Mane

• Fermented Soybeans

For Minerality & The Sea

• Sea Lettuce

• Spirulina

• Chlorella

For Earth & Smoke

• Chaga

• Reishi

• Smoked Salt

For Floral & Unexpected Notes

• Saffron

• Rose

• Bee Pollen

For Texture & Contrast

• Black Sesame

• Hemp Seeds

For Creative Exploration

• Blueberry

• Matcha

• Maca

• Activated Charcoal

Don’t Know Where to Start? Start Here.

Tomatoes pair beautifully with hundreds of ingredients—but these four dishes show why they became beloved around the world in the first place.

1. 🇪🇸 Pan con Tomate - Toasted bread rubbed with ripe tomato, then finished with olive oil and salt.

2. 🇲🇽 Pico de Gallo - A fresh tomato salsa with onions, coriander and lime juice that works as a dip, topping, or side.

3. 🇮🇳 Tomato Chutney - A tangy, lightly spiced tomato condiment. Served with rice, dosa, grilled vegetables, or sandwiches.

4. 🇬🇷 Greek Salad - The classic Greek tomato salad with tomato, feta, read onion, cucumber and olives.

   

Want to Challenge yourself?

Tomato is one of the few ingredients capable of moving effortlessly between comfort and refinement.

It can feel rustic or luxurious. Fresh or deeply savoury. Bright and vegetal, or dark and almost meaty.

Its adaptability is what makes it timeless across cuisines, techniques, and cultures.

To understand tomato is not only to understand flavour — but balance itself.

We study ingredients not as recipes —but as systems of flavour, texture, aroma, memory, and emotion.

Because the most extraordinary dishes are rarely accidental.

They are constructed through understanding.

Until the next pairing,

-POMELO by Ana Cortés

This is my favourite Tomato- “Tomate Rosa” from Spain. ❤️

THE PAIRINGS GUIDE
ISSUE 01
JUNE 2026