Over the past few weeks, I’ve been working on a new project at work. It is a food and wine pairing dinner series that changes monthly. I get to serve whatever food I want and pair wines with the food from our inventory at work.
It’s not the first time I have done something like this. I had planned many of these little dinners in Toronto while working with a small wine agency. I love doing them, because you have the freedom to choose what you want to serve and work with the seasonal ingredients to make something delicious. It is also a good opportunity to discover new wine and food pairings and experience what the flavours of the wine are really going to go with.
While putting all of these little things together and choosing what will be served, it got me thinking about giving everyone some pointers to think of when pairing food and wine.
When I build a menu, the first thing I decide on is that food that I will be serving. For me the flavours of the food are the starting point. From there I can decide on what characteristics in some wines will complement the foods I have chosen.
I usually build a menu that has variety and comes with ingredients that are in season. This time, I started with ingredients that are already in house for other menus and can be used for this experience as well. You pay a lot of money for food, so you want your money to go as far as it can go, so using an ingredient in maybe a couple different ways can really benefit you.
The most basic rule in food and wine pairing, is all 5 tastes receptors in our mouth have to balance with the wine. Salt, sour, sweet, bitter and umami are all flavours that can come from food. The acid, tannin, alcohol and sweetness in wine have to work together with your taste receptors to have a fully balanced dining experience.
When you are serving more than one course, the first course will always be something light that doesn’t have dominant flavours. You want the dish to get the diners salivating for more food. This could be a dish that has a bright character and can be paired with a light and bright wine. Foods like salads and soups or small bites that don’t have a lot of spice are always good options to get the diner acquainted with what is to come next.
Next thing to think about is the wine you may be serving with something that is a heavier dish. Dishes like pastas, braised meats or steaks will require full bodied wines which are usually red. Not to say that you can’t pair white wines with red meat, but it just wouldn’t work as well. You want the food and wine to work well in your mouth and the flavours to marry each other.
The lightest wines will come first and the more full bodied wines come afterwards. The same can be said for the types of food, meaning the heaviest dishes will not be the first ones to be served. Wines that have fuller body and more weight go better with foods that are heavier and have heartier flavours.
If you decide on serving a dessert, you probably will want to have it with a sweet or fortified wines. Still wines will have to too much acid and tannin, which could over power the sweetness of the dessert. You want to drink something that will be sweet, to compliment the sweetness of the dessert.
Well, I hope that was somewhat helpful! Next time you plan on serving a nice dinner with some great wines, you may find it easier to choose what will go best together. If you have any questions or ever want to tell me your favourite food and wine pairings, I would love to hear about them. In the meantime, drink good wine and eat good food!
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