Why Coriander Makes Blueberries Taste Better
- Anjali Carl
- Oct 13
- 3 min read
There are flavor pairings that just make sense: tomatoes and basil, or chocolate and coffee. But there are pairings that sound unusual until you taste them together. Blueberries and coriander are such a pair. Blueberries are the classic summer fruit- sweet with a hint of tart. Whereas coriander is a classic savory spice- nutty and earthy and closer to cinnamon or nutmeg than fruit. But together, they are synergistic in the flavor combination so they taste brighter.
And the reason is simple: shared chemistry.
Blueberries and coriander might seem different but they have a shared molecule called linalool. Linalool is an aromatic oil that is present in over 200 plants, including lavender, basil, thyme and citrus and it’s produced as a defense against pests as well as to attract pollinators. It’s also what gives coriander its lemony scent and what makes blueberries smell so sweet and fresh.
Linalool is a volatile aroma compound, which are substances with high vapor pressure that turn into gas at room temperature. It’s essentially the compound that travels to our noses and what we perceive to be the smell of a food.
So when two ingredients have the same volatile aromatic compound, they reach your nose and reinforce each other. So we perceive them as naturally harmonious, even if our tastebuds are telling us otherwise. This is the main idea behind flavor pairing theory, the idea that chefs use to find unexpected ingredients that actually match.
About 80% of what we call taste is actually due to what we smell. When we eat, the volatile aroma compounds travel into our nasal cavity from the back of our throat, a process called retronasal olfaction. Our brains then fuse the scent and taste into one perceived experience and call it taste.
This is why a pinch of coriander added to blueberry jam or blueberry muffins can make the product seem deeper and more complex in flavor. The blueberries don’t taste spicy or savory; they just taste more blueberry-like.
For blueberries and coriander, linalool isn’t the only compound in play to produce this enhanced experience. Coriander also contains α-pinene (piney), citronellol (lemony), and geraniol (rosy) which are compounds also found in fruits and flowers. These lift blueberry’s flavor from methyl anthranilate, which is what contributes to the fruit’s characteristic flavor. When one ingredient (coriander) is used to enhance another’s (blueberry) profile, this is called flavor bridging. It’s also the science behind pairing strawberry and basil or chocolate and chili.
You can even try this at home by mashing up some blueberries into a puree. Try it before and after adding coriander powder and see if you notice the difference. Here are some other fun ones to explore:
White chocolate and caviar: both contain trimethylamine compounds
Miso and caramel: Both are rich in umami and make a great sauce for ice cream
Bananas and parsley: Share isoamyl acetate
Blue cheese and chocolate: Both have methyl ketones
Strawberries and cilantro or coriander: All have linalool
If these pairings surprise you, there is a lot more chemistry lurking in your spice rack. And who knows- your next favorite dish may come from the most unlikely combo.
The kitchen is a really delicious lab, and now you know one of the formulas!
Anjali Carl is a junior at Cedar Park High School in Cedar Park, Texas. They have been excited about food science since making ice cream in a third-grade science class, and now enjoys baking and recipe development. Through their Girl Scout Gold Award project, they created two cookbooks focused on reducing food waste for food pantries and college students. They plan to study food science and eventually become an ice cream chemist.
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