Tag: Wine Pairing

Three Ways To Cheat at Food and Wine Pairing

Hold the frankincense and myrrh, we can sub these instead... — Hold the frankincense and myrrh, we can sub these instead …

Getting food and wine to play together nicely is all about taking time to identify bridge elements: aromas that neatly connect food and wine. That char on your salmon; those shishito peppers in your omelet … it’s these details that make all the difference.

But there is a way to cheat. Just hijack a somewhat bland or “undetermined” food by slathering it in a bridge element. And with a dash of faerie dust, your chicken transforms into what suddenly seems like the one true love for your Bourgogne.

The two spice blends below are gifts fit for a god, and offer an amazing return for your time or money, as they help your red wines connect in a heavenly manner to so very many foods …

EGYPTIAN DUKKAH

Just the smell of roasted hazelnuts (think Nutella or nocciola gelato) plus lemony coriander seed is already enough to change your life. But the way it interfaces with red wines is remarkable.

It will adorn lamb, roast chicken, lentils, soups, toasted bread with olive oil, and you may even snack on it uncontrollably. A very dominant “this is what we’re doing now” spice blend, to be sure; nevertheless highly addictive.

You’ll make it in 25 minutes, then sprinkle it on your food for months.

A word about fresh spices: you NEED to monitor your spices for bugs or mold. Inspect with your nose and eyes before using. If your spices expired over a year ago, throw them away and then buy the smallest amount of not already rotten, cheap bulk spices as you require them. Aflatoxin B1 (from mold) is one of the worst carcinogens, and (Click to Read more)

The Magic of an Unexpected Perfect Fit

Food and wine pairing epiphanies can be magical, particularly when a risky gamble pays off in spades and the pairing elevates both the food and the wine. It’s quite rare that things work out that well, but if they do, it’s typically because you’re venturing on a well-trodden path for the first time. More often, the wine and food simply respect each other: neither subtracts from the other, and both taste just as good as they did alone.

But even if you don’t hit the ‘mutual elevation mother lode’, sometimes you have a legitimate discovery on your hands. And so it was with silex and salsa: the 2012 Pascal Janvier Jasnières “Cuvée du Silex” got down to business with Enchiladas Suizas (recipe below).

jasnieres and enchiladas — Genetically predisposed haters of cilantro need not apply.

Who pairs Chenin and Mexican?! (Click to Read more)

How to Pair Sangiovese and Shrimp

Shrimp and sangiovese sounds bonkers, right? Watch this.

Traditional Tuscan fare has been dubbed cucina povera, and it’s indeed rather impoverished and simple with staples including beans, breads and some roasted meats. We all can imagine pairing sangiovese to red meats like steak or lamb shoulder chops, and that’s great. But you don’t always have a place to park that in your innards.

Given the ridiculous amount of garlic and sage in this recipe, the shrimp plays second fiddle. Sure, you do taste a briny element of the shrimp, and it’s great, but the rest of the elements envelope it such that it pairs perfectly with sangiovese.

And let’s hear it for cucina povera, because this is a pretty inexpensive meal if you source the shrimp cheaply. Plus if you decide you love it, you can tweak the amounts up and make a trough to last for days.

TUSCAN-STYLE WHITE BEANS WITH SHRIMP & TOMATOES

Cooking time: about 40 min Total time: about 2 hrs (Click to Read more)