We’ve all grown up on food and drink pairings that come natural to us now (burger and coke, chicken wings and beer anyone?) However how many times have you been out having dinner or even just a bite, a salad, an appetizer and feel like having a drink but you don’t know what best compliments your food?
You may have no idea what to drink with what you eat or you might have come across beverage and food pairing ideas but none have stuck to your head long enough to retrieve when you need them. That’s when you can use the main tips bestowed upon us by sommeliers (aka wine experts) and mixologists ( aka fancy bartenders) :
- Use your common sense to assess what flavors go together. This might be based on types of cuisines. For example Mexican food and tequila drinks, Japanese food and sake cocktails, French food and champagne cocktails. It might also be based on flavors that can be associated together. For example when having a BBQ, have bourbon based cocktails that are known for their smokey essence.
- Use high alcohol based cocktails with fatty and oily foods. According to the experts, the high alcohol content of drinks will help absorb the fat and cleanse the palate. Just as you would match a high acid dish- containing lemon juice or tomato sauce – with high acid wines.
- Have refreshing drinks ( like watermelon, fruit punch drinks) with spicy food. As for wine, it’s suggested that you choose dry or medium dry white wines with very spicy foods.
- Drink sparkling drinks with salty and fried foods ( like Champagne and deep fried chicken!)You can also have high acid or sweet wine with salty foods like fish or cheese.
- Match sweet food with sweet cocktails. The sweetness of the food should not overwhelm the taste of the drink and make it mild.
These are the main guidelines.. more details to follow in later blogs!
Cheers!
photo: Food pairing photography by Kyle Deier
thewineofthings.com 