FOOD and WINE PAIRING—Chinese Food (continuation from blog  “ Food and Wine Pairing”  dated 24 October  2010)

 INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

 
FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–CHINESE FOOD, Cuisine that encompasses many different styles of cooking -noodles,dumplings and the sizzling meats of North China, lightly spiced seafood dishes of the eastern coastal regions, very hot and spicy dishes from Sichuan and then the huge variety of stir-fries which are popular in and around Canton.

 
CHALLENGES:—–The common perception is that Chinese Foods pair better with beer than wine -this is not true. With such a variety of tastes and flavours as highlighted above, the challenge is tricky, but certainly not impossible. We do need to consider wines that are all rounders, wines that pair well with the delicate dim sum dishes as well as sharp and spicy dishes which utilize much pepper and chilli. 

 
RECOMMENDATIONS:—–There are a number of wines that work well with most Chinese dishes – the conventional wisdom of matching a medium bodied Gewurztraminer W. Gisselbrecht with either light fish dishes or hot Sichuan dishes does work very well. A German Riesling of Kabinett quality such as Johannisberger Erntebringer has similar attributes in pairing with the variety of tastes and flavours of Chinese food. For lovers of red wines, try a New World full bodied Merlot from Santa Cecilia Chile, the wine has a good balance of fruit and tannins which will compliment light dishes of the South and the more robust and spicy dishes of Northern China.

A little tip – similar to Indian or Thai food, sip a little water between different wines and different courses. It helps a lot in introducing a new wine or changing from a spicy to more delicate dish.

 
MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and deserts. Also view Great Friends-Cheese and Wine for cheese and wine pairing.

NEXT ARTICLE:—–White Fish
 

HAPPY CHINESE FOOD and WINE PAIRING DAYS

Graham D

FOOD and WINE PAIRING—SHELLFISH (continuation from blog 

 “ Food and Wine pairing”  dated 4th February 2010 )

INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–SHELLFISH including PRAWNS, LANGOSTINE, OYSTERS, CLAMS, MUSSELS, SCALLOPS, CRAB and LOBSTER

CHALLENGES:—–Delicate shellfish need due care and attention, beware and stay away from strongly oaked wines. You should seek out crisp dry white wines, new world sauvignon blancs, dry champagne or a quality sparkling wine will do the job very well. Shellfish cooked with, cheese, cream or herbs do support a much broader range of wines.

 
RECOMMENDATIONS:—–When eating live shellfish try a very dry and crisp Muscadet  or a more up market Pouilly-Fume, both from the Loire Valley.

When enjoying rich dishes like Devilled Crab, Lobster Newburgh or Lobster Thermidor, then you could choose from all three colours and good recommendations would be a light red from the Loire—Saumur Champigny, a fine and sturdy rose from Australia—Willowglen Rose  or a buttery Chardonnay from New Zealand— Hunter’s of Marlborough.

Lightly cooked Scallops, Clams or Mussels in a white wine sauce go exceedingly well with New World Sauvignon Blancs or a Mortitx Blanc from the island of Mallorca.

Prawns, Shrimp and Langostine dishes cooked in richer style sauces (not curry spices) are very well suited to more full bodied whites like Chateaunuef du Pape  from the Rhone Valley and a rich Chilean Chardonnay from Millaman.

MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine  to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and desserts. Also  Great Friends-Cheese and Wine  for cheese and wine pairing.

NEXT ARTICLE:—–Smoked food including,  smoked trout, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, smoked eel, smoked halibut, smoked ham, smoked chicken , smoked duck and smoked goose.
 
HAPPY  SHELLFISH AND WINE PAIRING DAYS

Graham D

FOOD and WINE PAIRING—WILD GAME (continuation from blog  “ Food and Wine pairing”  dated 9th January  2010)

 INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–WILD GAME DISHES, including PHEASANT, PARTRIDGE, WILD MALLARD, PIGEON, RABBIT, HARE, VENISON and WILD BOAR.

CHALLENGES:—–Wild game varies in taste quite a bit, one has the light and flavoursome meats of partridge and pheasant, middle of the range in taste would be rabbit, pigeon and mallard and the strongest tasting meats would be venison, wild boar and especially hare. The challenge is selecting wines to match all three different groups

  RECOMMENDATIONS:—–Big or robust red wines of quality will go well with all three categories of feathered or furred game mentioned above and classic matches would be a full bodied Crozes Hermitage from the Northern Rhone or a well matured Barossa Shiraz from Australia.

If we focus on the lighter meats like pheasant and partridge then there a number of  white or rose wines that would hold their own if the meat is roasted or served with light sauces. Try a full flavoured Chablis Premier Cru such as  from the estate of Tremblay or a Gisborne Viognier from New Zealand. For a rose go for the highly recommended Whispering Angel. A light bodied red wine suited to this particular category would be a juicy red Chinon from the Loire Valley.

Rabbit, pigeon and mallard  all love medium to full bodied red  ranging from Pinot Noirs like those from Oregan and Volnay and Pommard  from Burgundy, to a fruity Hawkes Bay Merlot from the Southern Hemisphere’s New Zealand. These same four red wines are well suited to Rabbit Stew or Pie and also Cold Game Pie.

Venison, Wild Boar and Hare do prefer complex and more full bodied red wines of character and style. Two big boys that immediately come to mind are of course Chateaunuef-du-Pape from the lower Rhone region of France and a quality red from Ribera del Duero from the north east of Spain. If you are brave and considering the famed game dish of Jugged Hare, then the intense and fruity wines from Gigondas and Vacqueyras will the perfect match.

 
MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine  to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and desserts. Also Great Friends-Cheese and Wine  for cheese and wine pairing.

 NEXT ARTICLE:—–Shellfish dishes, including prawns, langostine, clams, mussels, scallops, crab and lobster

 
HAPPY  WILD GAME AND WINE PAIRING DAYS
Graham D

(continuation from blog “Food and Wine pairing” dated 13th August 2009)

INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–PORK DISHES, including  ROAST PORK, GRILLED PORK CHOPS, SUCKLING PIG, PORK MEDALLIONS and PORK FILLET.  ( Veal or rabbit dishes would also be a good alternative )

 CHALLENGES:—–simply cooked pork is not too difficult to find friends and partners. Similar to chicken you can match most of your personal preferences with the above dishes except sweet or medium sweet wine. Pork also goes well with sparkling wine, especially red made from Shiraz/Syrah or Malbec.

RECOMMENDATIONS:—–Pork has an endearment towards big rich white wines such as Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Cotes du Rhone Villages. The strength, richness, depth of flavour and aromas of these desirable wines  provide a classic match for most pork dishes. If you are a committed red wine fan then try a Californian Syrah with its spicy black cherry fruit, this distinctive grape variety is also a perfect match for pork, hot or cold. An alternative red would be an Australian Merlot from Wakefield with its subtle flavours and softness to match both the white meat of pork and also the rich crispy crackling of oven roast pork.

MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and deserts. Also Great Friends-Cheese and Wine for cheese and wine pairing.

NEXT ARTICLE:—–Beef dishes, including roast beef, grilled sirloin steak, grilled T bone steak, grilled rump steak, grilled fillet steak, grilled rib eye steak, beef en crout and big beefy stews.

HAPPY  PORK  AND WINE PAIRING DAYS

Graham D

(continuation from blog  “ Food and Wine pairing”  dated 17th  June  2009)

INTRODUCTION:—–this blog and the many more following will examine the pleasurable and often complex relationship between good food and wine, with the ultimate aim to assist our many discerning customers evolve the convivial bonding of good food and wine.

FOOD BEING FEATURED:—–MEDIUM STYLE CURRIES, including  CHICKEN, LAMB, PRAWN and VEGETABLE.  ( Thai or Chinese curries with similar ingredients would also be a good alternative )

CHALLENGES:—–We all know that matching wines with Asian cooking can be a difficult challenge and matching wines with curries even more difficult. With mild and fragrant curries like Korma, Biryani or Kashmiri dishes and curries with fruit like pineapple or mango, these can be a little easier to match than with hot curries like Madras and Vindaloo or astringent sauces made from tamarind or too strong in fenugreek and ginger.

RECOMMENDATIONS:—–wines with strong and distinct flavours or wines with fruity acidity will provide the best matches for the above mentioned dishes. A good tip to help you enjoy wine during an asian meal, is to take a sip of water to refresh the palate each time before you take a sip of wine.

Red wines from the Loire made from the Cabernet Franc grape such as Saumur-Champigny have the ideal fruit and acidity balance for mild curries. With this combination you will enjoy both the meal and the wine.

A white wine renoun for matching Asian cooking is the wine named after its grape variety Gewurztraminer. Gewurztraminer’s from the New World such as Segu from Chile have a little more acidity and body over the Alsace versions of this grape and can even put up a good with some of the hotter curries.

Other white wines to be considered are those produced in the Languedoc region of France. Wines like a well chilled Picpoul de Pinet  are perfectly happy with spicy dishes, again it’s the fruit and high acidity that comes through and softens the impact of curries and strongly flavoured dishes.

MAIN DIRECTORY:—–click on The Marriage of Food and Wine to access our quick search facility to locate hundreds of other food/wine/food pairing options, including hors-d’oeuvres, starters, soups, main courses and desserts. Also Great Friends-Cheese and Wine for cheese and wine pairing.

NEXT ARTICLE:—–Pork dishes, including roast pork, grilled pork chops,  suckling pig, pork fillet and medallions of pork.
 

HAPPY  MEDIUM CURRY  AND WINE PAIRING DAYS

Graham D

There is no doubt that good food and wine are one of the great ways of bringing pleasure to close ones and friends alike and with all the remarkable varieties of  flavour and tastes, matching food with wine will always be an engaging and delightful challenge and pastime. Although it should be noted, that in the main, taste is subjective and only by experimenting with different wines and the pairings of food and wine will lead to those wonderfully more interesting and blissful moments in life, which is what good food and wine should be all about.

Travel, food and wine are also another rewarding combination. What’s more agreeable than say leisurely traveling the West Coast of Ireland especially around the coastline of County Galway and the wilds of Connemara and when around midday comes it’s a must to find time to stop off for lunch at Moran’s Oyster Cottage (www.moransoystercottage.com) along side the river just south of Galway City near Clarinbridge. Then to indulge in the most enjoyable pleasure of tasting cold fresh native oysters in the shell with a few drops of lemon juice, some local warm brown bread and of course a large glass of chilled Chablis Premier Cru, Montmain, a timeless and irresistible partnership it must be said. I am sure you will agree that the combination of good food, wine and travel has to be the ultimate experience for the gastronomic adventurer.

Those who enjoy good wine often spend time in selecting and tasting wines that to them fully match their taste requirements. Those who enjoy good food follow a similar path to reach their expectations. Now when it comes to pairing both these requirements together, for many this is where the problems start, and this is where we can be of help.

Is your time well spent pairing food and wine, are the end results rewarding, is the process mythology or fact, or perhaps a combination of both? These are all very interesting questions, especially since we know some foods will just about go well with any wines, red, white or rose, Grilled Chicken would be  would be most agreeable with all three styles. On the other hand you can easily destroy a combination of good food and wine, for example an obvious clash would be eating a light Strawberry Mousse with a heavy red Chateauneuf-du-Pape, both the food and wine would sadly lose out. In most cases exceedingly good results are attainable with not too much effort, as with Oysters and Chablis, or for instance try a chilled sweet wine from Bordeaux or a Monbazillac with Blue Stilton or Roquefort and a big chunk of crusty bread, yes you will definitely find them a perfect marriage.

How do we develop the perfect combinations and partnerships between good food and wine? Research is one way, trial and error is another, or why not click on https://www.ahadleigh-wine.com/wine-and-food/  and review what is one of the quickest and most helpful food and wine matching directories available, guiding one through numerous dishes with alternative selections of wines to match most tastes. Distinctive cuisine deserves the accompaniment of good wine and hopefully this article and our following publications will be of help.

This intoduction to pairing food and wine will be followed over the coming months by many other interesting articles discussing the matching of specific food groups or individual dishes with many different wine options. Watch out for our next article which will focus on matching fish rich in oil like trout, salmon and mackerel with everyday drinking wines

TO BE CONTINUED SOON

HAPPY FOOD AND WINE PAIRING DAYS