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Pairing
Food and Wine
The
old rule about white wine with fish and red wine with meat made perfect sense in
the days when white wines were light and fruity and red wines were tannic and
weighty. But today, when most California Chardonnays are heavier and
fuller-bodied than most California Pinot Noirs and even some Cabernets,
color-coding does not always work.[1] Pairing food with wine can be learned with practice. Perhaps the first step is simply to begin paying attention to what wine you're drinking with what food. Take notes--especially when a wine really goes well with a particular entree or dish, and for that matter, when it doesn't. Basic
Principles
The
first decision that has to be made in pairing food and wine is in answering this
question: Are we pairing food with a particular bottle of wine, or are we
pairing wine with a particular entree or dish? There is a big difference in
perspective, and the answer will probably come by considering what we want
people to focus on. As Father Corbet Clark puts it, "Hungry people eating
and drinking can concentrate only on so much at a time."[2]
So, if we're pulling out that $35 bottle of Pinot Noir for dinner, we don't want
to distract everyone with a 1-1/2" thick "prime grade" rib-eye
steak from the grill. On second thought, wow...that sounds really good! Body
Next
we need to pair the food with wine of equal body or weight. Remember the light,
medium and full-bodied wine chart? (See
Chapter 9)
So really it's not that hard: a light-bodied wine with a light dish, a
medium-bodied wine with a more substantial dish and a full-bodied wine with a
heavy dish.[3]
That's one reason why a Cabernet Sauvignon or a full-bodied Syrah[4]
would probably be a better match for that rib-eye steak.[5] Also,
the cooking method has a lot to do with the weight and flavor of a particular
dish: Steaming,
poaching and boiling result in light dishes and impart minimal flavors. Sautéing
produces a little more body and imparts slightly more flavor. Roasting,
braising and baking results in a heavier dish, but enhances flavors in a gentle
manner. Grilling
adds an intense, smoky flavor that caramelizes or browns the food. Deep-frying
obviously produces a heavy dish that coats the mouth. Similarity
and Contrast
Third, we have to decide whether we are pairing for similarity or contrast. Most often we pair for similarity, but sometimes, with creamy or cheesy sauces that coat the tongue, we may want to pair for contrast by choosing a crisp, acidic wine to cleanse and refresh the palate. Another
reason to pair
for contrast may relate to balancing the intensity of flavor. For instance,
crisp light to medium-bodied wines allow the acidity of the wine to cut through
the food. These "crisp" white wines are often paired with spicy hot
dishes, like Thai or Chinese to "put the fire out" when our palates
need a break.[6] Sauces
Sauces
change the flavor of foods; for instance, salmon on the grill with lemon, garlic
and butter sure doesn't taste the same as poached salmon in a creamy dill sauce.
"So, consider the balance of sweetness and tartness, the creaminess and the
herbs in the sauce when thinking of a wine."[8]
With
various salsas, chutneys or relishes, choose a wine that matches the strongest
flavor in the ingredients. Ethnicity
Finally,
consider pairing the ethnicity of the dish with the ethnicity of the wine. This
doesn't mean we have to become experts on the wines of every nation of the
world, or even of
[1] Harvey Steiman, editor at large. "Matching Wine with Food," Wine Spectator. http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Wine_Basics/Wine_Basics_Template/0,1199,17,00.html [2]
Jeff Smith. The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine. William Morrow and
Company, [3] More common sense from Harvey Steiman. "Hearty food needs a hearty wine, because it will make a lighter wine taste insipid. With lighter food, you have more leeway. Lighter wines will balance nicely, of course, but heartier wines will still show you all they have. Purists may complain that full-bodied wines "overwhelm" less hearty foods, but the truth is that anything but the blandest food still tastes fine after a sip of a heavyweight wine." [4] A Syrah may vary in body and style depending on the microclimate in which it is grown and the style preference of the particular winemaker. One can't assume that a Syrah will be full-bodied, although it seems that most are. [5] I remember reading somewhere that it is actually the fatty acids found in red meat that reduce the puckery sensation of the tannins in full-bodied reds, making them taste softer. Funny, how we always talk about a big red wine to go with that steak when we should be saying it the other way around. [6] The "heat" in most hot chilies comes from the natural oil found in the seeds. This helps us to understand why these more acidic wines, which help cleanse oil from the palate, can often make a good contrasting match. [7]
Even more [8] Jeff Smith. The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine. (William Morrow and Company, New York: 1986), pp. 404-405. |
