Most good chefs have a sense, whether intuitive or learned or both, of what kinds of flavors go together well. But for the rest of us, it can be a lengthy process of trial and error to learn that thyme compliments pigeon, for example, or that carrots will go nicely with white fish. For the would-be kitchen improviser who still needs a bit of guidance, data visualists David McCandless and Willow Tyrer created a fascinating series of charts mapping out complimentary flavors using 1,000 recipes from BBC Food and Epicurious, according to Food and Tech Connect. Before Monday you had to buy the book Information Is Beautiful in order to get it. On Monday, however, the Information Is Beautiful folks decided it would save a lot of ruined meals if they released the charts "into the wild," as their website says, so now you can peruse them for free, or download the PDF for $7.50. 

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author at amartin at theatlantic dot com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.
Adam Martin