Food and Wine Pairing-What You Need To Know
Many people fail to correctly match dishes with wine. Some people, in their effort to balance the flavors of the food, carelessly try to match it with wines but end up with a less than delicious meal. A good knowledge on how to properly pair wine with food can certainly help you enjoy your food much better. Here are the essential elements to remember when pairing wine and food.
1. Consider Fat Content. Most of the foods that people enjoy are fatty. Since wine does not have fat, do not forget that wine balances the fat in food with acid or cuts it with its tannins. It may also match the fat content with its alcohol. This is the very reason why steak tastes awesome with a cabernet-based wine.
2. Acid Element. In wine, acid adds nerve, freshness, and lift. Acid can have the same effect with food such as when lemon is squeezed on a fresh piece of fish and brings a new twist to the flavor. When choosing which wine to pair with an acidic dish, make sure that the wine's acidity is at least equal to the acidity of the food or else the wine will taste bland. This is quite challenging with salads but it can work if you cut back on the lemon juice or vinegar. Use tangy, bitter greens instead and offset them with herbal flavors from a Semillon or Sauvignon Blanc.
3. Take note of saltiness. It usually is a challenge to pair wine with salty food but a sweet wine s and salty dishes can work. It is recommended that you try serving sparkling wines with salty or fried foods. If you are serving seafood like oysters, try pairing it with an acidic wine. The acid in these wines will clear out the salt and make the ocean flavors more prominent.
4. Then there's the sweetness factor. A lot of people are used to pairing sweet foods with sweet wine. This is generally acceptable but there is a rule to be observed. If you're not careful, sweet wine can cancel out completely the sweetness of the food or the other way around. Rich white wines (e.g. Chardonnay) go well with light and fruity sweets. With regards to desserts, it is recommended that you serve wine that is sweeter than the dessert because if not, the dessert will make the wine taste bitter. Generally, people pair red wine with chocolates. This is not entirely wrong but be careful with how you pair these two because sweet chocolate and a dry red wine can be a horrible pair. Try serving a slightly sweet red wine (e.g. a late harvested Zinfandel) paired with a bitter dark chocolate. This will taste delightful.
5. Consider Bitter Flavors. Most cultures avoid bitter flavors but there are a few that value them. A bitter tasting wine is usually a product of a process that failed to remove stems and seeds out of the fermenting tank. It can also be due to unripe grapes. Bitter wine and bitter food do not cancel out each other's bitterness as sweet wine and sweet food does. The bitterness intensifies instead.
6. Texture Element. When matching textures, remember that light foods are best with light wines, and heavy foods are best with heavy wines. This is the safest way of pairing textures. If you want to experiment on contrasting heavy foods with lights wines and vice versa, make sure that you avoid having the heavy flavors overshadow the lighter ones.
1. Consider Fat Content. Most of the foods that people enjoy are fatty. Since wine does not have fat, do not forget that wine balances the fat in food with acid or cuts it with its tannins. It may also match the fat content with its alcohol. This is the very reason why steak tastes awesome with a cabernet-based wine.
2. Acid Element. In wine, acid adds nerve, freshness, and lift. Acid can have the same effect with food such as when lemon is squeezed on a fresh piece of fish and brings a new twist to the flavor. When choosing which wine to pair with an acidic dish, make sure that the wine's acidity is at least equal to the acidity of the food or else the wine will taste bland. This is quite challenging with salads but it can work if you cut back on the lemon juice or vinegar. Use tangy, bitter greens instead and offset them with herbal flavors from a Semillon or Sauvignon Blanc.
3. Take note of saltiness. It usually is a challenge to pair wine with salty food but a sweet wine s and salty dishes can work. It is recommended that you try serving sparkling wines with salty or fried foods. If you are serving seafood like oysters, try pairing it with an acidic wine. The acid in these wines will clear out the salt and make the ocean flavors more prominent.
4. Then there's the sweetness factor. A lot of people are used to pairing sweet foods with sweet wine. This is generally acceptable but there is a rule to be observed. If you're not careful, sweet wine can cancel out completely the sweetness of the food or the other way around. Rich white wines (e.g. Chardonnay) go well with light and fruity sweets. With regards to desserts, it is recommended that you serve wine that is sweeter than the dessert because if not, the dessert will make the wine taste bitter. Generally, people pair red wine with chocolates. This is not entirely wrong but be careful with how you pair these two because sweet chocolate and a dry red wine can be a horrible pair. Try serving a slightly sweet red wine (e.g. a late harvested Zinfandel) paired with a bitter dark chocolate. This will taste delightful.
5. Consider Bitter Flavors. Most cultures avoid bitter flavors but there are a few that value them. A bitter tasting wine is usually a product of a process that failed to remove stems and seeds out of the fermenting tank. It can also be due to unripe grapes. Bitter wine and bitter food do not cancel out each other's bitterness as sweet wine and sweet food does. The bitterness intensifies instead.
6. Texture Element. When matching textures, remember that light foods are best with light wines, and heavy foods are best with heavy wines. This is the safest way of pairing textures. If you want to experiment on contrasting heavy foods with lights wines and vice versa, make sure that you avoid having the heavy flavors overshadow the lighter ones.
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