Hi everyone.
I am Jacky Blisson and today we are talking about food and wine pairing techniques.
I am basically going to give you a couple of guidelines to make it easier to order wine
in a restaurant or to buy a bottle for dinner.
Ordering wine in a restaurant can be super intimidating!
The big list.
The hovering waiter.
But no need to panic!
You really just need to remember these 2 simple things.
First of all, the waiter or sommelier is there to help you, not to stress you out.
Just give them a couple of ideas of wines or wine styles that you like and they should
- if they have any talent for their job - be able to give you a couple of good suggestions.
Understanding a couple of things about food and wine pairing techniques will help you
communicate better to a waiter in a restaurant or a merchant in a wine shop the style of
wine that you are looking for.
Secondly, this is not a math equation.
There are no wrong answers.
If you want to drink Pinot Grigio with steak, go for it!
That being said, I do recommend trying out some more conventional food and wine pairings
just so you can see what all the fuss is about.
Think about it in terms of food.
Olive oil can taste delicious on its own, but if you sprinkle some sea salt in it, it
is even better.
The right combination of wine and food will enhance both elements so you get more out
of your glass and your plate.
An easy rule of thumb that works in most situations is matching like for like.
Start with quality.
You want to pair your wine to the equivalent quality levels of your food.
If you are having simple, every day food, you are going to want to pick an easy drinking,
smooth, rounded wine.
If, however, you are making something fancy for a dinner party you are going to want a
wine of equivalent complexity.
You wouldn't pour ketchup all over an expensive dish in a fancy restaurant.
Picking a cheap wine that clashes with the flavours or overpowers them, it is like doing
that.
You want to pair light, delicate foods with light-bodied wines and bold, flavourful dishes
with fuller bodied wines.
Same situation with acidity.
Acidic foods call for acidic wines.
Why?
Because a lower acid is going to seem flat and heavy with a really acidic ingredient
like lemon or tomato.
High acid wines are also a really good, thirst quenching option for salty foods - think about
oysters and Champagne.
Fruity foods go well with fruity wines, and finally rich, creamy dishes tend to go well
with full-bodied, layered, creamy textured wines.
Buttery lobster is dynamite with a richer style of Chardonnay.
The major exception, because there always is one, is sweetness.
You need to be careful with sweetness because a very sweet dessert with a very sweet wine
can be a bit sickly.
What you want to do is pair a sweet wine with a slightly less sweet dessert.
Sweet wines also go very well with rich, salty things like salted nuts or certain hard cheeses
or blue cheeses.
Another important facet of food and wine pairing is tannin.
Tannin can give a very drying, sometimes bitter sensation on the palate.
And you want to be careful not to pair highly tannic wines - big red wines like Cabernet
Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec - with delicate fare because it is really going to overpower and
dry out the flavours.
What you want to do, when you are faced with a bold red wine, is to pair with a big, bold
piece of meat.
Tannins in wine bind with and soften the proteins in meat.
It makes the meat taste more succulent and the wine less astringent.
Once you get confident about food and wine pairing rules, it is time to break them!
Contrasting flavours can be equally interesting.
Think about that creamy, rich sauce we talked about earlier.
Pairing with a heavy, full-bodied wine might be a bit overpowering for your palate.
You might prefer a tangy, crisp, lighter wine that is going to cut through the fat and facilitate
digestion.
Think about how well lemon and butter work together in sauces.
When it comes to spicy foods, wines that are slightly off-dry, with bright acidity and
light in body are your best option.
The sweetness will temper the heat from the spice, and the mouthwatering acidity will
refresh the palate.
I hope these tips help.
Send me a comment if you have any questions and join me next week for more tips on how
to order wine in a restaurant.
Santé!