Is there any relationship between Food and Wine?
It is like asking is there any relationship between holiday and enjoyment; holiday is to enjoy and they are two sides of the same coin and so is the Food and Wine. Good food with good wine; just imagine for yourself how you would enjoy it. Some call this combination the ‘ultimate bliss’. Mind you, for this great combination all that you have to do is to plan well. Plan a food which goes hand in hand with the wine you choose or plan a wine which goes hand in hand with the food you choose. All that matters is your choice, the occasion say for example, the birthday, wedding anniversary, Christmas or Easter and plan what you dine and now comes your choice of wine.
Food and Wine history!
Some historians say that stapling Food and Wine is a recent phenomenon and it was hardly practiced earlier. At the same time, some argue that the practice of planning food which along with good wine started somewhere in the 19th century and they even argue that it was since then that use of champagne with sea food came in vogue. They even argue that it was since then that people started taking red wine with meat and white wine with sea food etc came to be practiced or followed as the appropriate choice. With passage of time, people’s preferences changed and now we find such conventional preferences have been given up and now we find some people preferring white wine with meat because they feel that white wines are stronger and they mix well with meat.
However historians argue that this concept of combination or pairing of Food and Wine is basically attributable to hotel industries where some of the popular restaurants found that certain wine when taken with certain food would make the food and the wine tastier. Such combinations became popular and more and more people started such combinations in their culinary preparations. This experiment gave way for some authors and culinary experts to write books on such delightful combinations and it gradually took ground and became popular day by day. Newer combinations were tried by various people and their experiences were again expressed in various articles and now we find that it has taken deep roots in every culinary planning. Now, people plan their regional food with either regional wine or with wine from some other place and vice versa.
Is pairing off between Food and Wine possible?
As said earlier, there is no basic rule that Food and Wine should be paired off. In the modern society, the general rule that is suggested is that if the weight of the food is heavy do not use heavy wine. In other words, if the food is heavy, use wine that is low in alcohol. But again this cannot be taken as the gospel truth. This is because some argue heavy meals should be enjoyed with heavy wine like the meat with white wine. But such heavy meals with heavy wine may make you uncomfortable after the party; therefore you can prefer heavy meals with light wine. In fact this is the principle which is being followed in pairing of with wine having high tannin. But, normally high tannin wine is not paired off with sea food because such a combination would give something metallic taste and no one would relish such food. The best combination for high tannin wine is the meat.
Some culinary experts suggest that heavy wine will be good with fat and rich cuisine and that would make a good combination of Food and Wine. This is because food which has high fat content will certainly will be able to withstand the high alcohol content in the wine. Of course, it is an accepted fact that desserts and dry wine will not be a good combination. Sweet wines are served with desserts and that makes a good combination. As a matter of fact, culinary experts take the texture of the wine in making the pairing off. For example, they consider the sweetness or bitterness of the wine, alcohol content and such other physical properties of the wine and they match these properties with the food they are planning to prepare. With this, they plan the suitable pairing of so that it enhances the taste of both the food and the wine.
What is the guiding principle for Food and Wine?
In simple terms, the guiding principle for Food and Wine is your taste and your experimental tendency. When you find the best combination of wine for your food try making a little change of either the food or the wine and you would perhaps find the change much tastier. So, in the marriage between Food and Wine all that matter is your open mind and your insistence of finding something new and something pleasant.
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