2 Great Tips For Successful Wine And Food Pairings

2 Great Tips For Successful Wine And Food Pairings

By:


Most of us know that you serve red wine with red meat and white wine with fish or seafood. We also know the goal is to serve wine that complements the food and that the food in turn complements. But for a lot of us, that's just about as far as our knowledge of wine and food pairings goes.



The purpose of judicious food and wine pairings is, quite simply, taste and the concomitant pleasurable dining experience. A good pairing will make the both the wine and the food taste better than either would by itself by means of the complementarity involvedeither the wine and food working in concert, each bringing out the best in the other and supplying what the other lacks, or setting up an advantageous antagonism as you have in some marriages. It all boils down to taste, but the perfect pairing can sometimes be pretty elusive.



Here are just a few of the things that can go wrong with poor wine and food pairings. Sometimes, the acidity or sweetness, that which provides the primary flavor of the wine, can undergo an unwanted amplification or diminishment. And then, of course, the wine takes on a different flavor along with the food. Less often, the wine will transfer some of its flavor to the dish or the food to the wine. Similarly, a bad pairing will result in the appearance (or at least the perception, which ultimately amounts to the same thing) of a new, unexpected, and usually undesirable flavor. And, worst of all, a truly poor pairing allows either the wine or the food to overpower the delicate flavor of the other.



Tip 1

First, consider the wine. Riesling, for example, is produced in such widely separated corners of the world as the Clare Valley in Australia, British Columbia, and Germany. And this delicate wine can have an astounding variation in flavor, ranging from acidic and citrusy to somewhat sweet to fairly dry. It all depends on a wide variety of factors, including area origin, altitude at which the grapes were grown, and the age of the wine. What this means, then, is that this wine, depending on the particular Riesling, can be successfully paired with everything from salads and vegetables to fish to pork to barbecued chicken wings. So the first step is to know your wine.



Tip 2

Consider not only the food the wine is to be paired with, but the manner of preparation and added spices and sauces as well. These can dramatically change the flavor of the dish and, consequently, the best wine to go with it. For example, a poached chicken breast, cooked with just minimal spices and a light lemon-herb sauce, could easily be paired with a Riesling. But if you took that same poached chicken breast and added a cream sauce, you would then have a more forceful taste and would need a wine with fuller body. And if you roasted the chicken breast, you would then have to move up to, perhaps, a red wine. Just keep in mind that there's a lot more to the flavor of the dishand the wine that goes with it than merely the fish or fowl in it.

About the Author:
Choosing the right wine and food pairings just makes sense when it comes to your wine cents. And one of the best things you can do to get it right is to use a good wine and food pairing guide.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Recipes Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.