Wine and Food Matching

Below is a copy of the wine and food evening I conducted at Next Door Enfield on Thursday last March 26th. Recipes and links are below the text.

Few other topics in the wine world bring forth as much discussion as the great debate on what food should be served with what wine. The most important thing to remember when considering this subject is that there are relatively few certainties in food and wine matching and much is down to personal taste.

The first myth to dispel is “white wine with fish and whit meat, red wine with red meat”; while true in many instances this is simply too broad a statement. Oily fish such as salmon or tuna both go extremely well with lighter red wines such as those made from pinot noir or even light Bordeaux. Consider the weight of the food not the colour.

Similarly, rich white wines such as Pinot Gris from Alsace can be an interesting combination with lighter red meats and other savoury foods we traditionally associate with red wine such as game birds.

One useful tenet to remember is that wine should either complement the food or offer a contrast. Hence a creamy pasta sauce will go well with a light refreshing white wine such as Orvieto or Verdicchio from Italy, but can also go well with a richer ‘creamy’ wine such as a Chardonnay.

A food high in acidity and sweetness such as a granny smith apple could cause a rich wine to taste thin and metallic, while a savoury food such as mature hard cheese can make a lighter wine taste fuller and softer.

A salad dressing made with vinegar or lemon juice can make a cheap, acidic wine taste fuller and richer; while simply overpowering the taste of a top quality mature red wine making it taste somewhat bitter.

If the wine you have chosen seems too astringent and tannic adding a little more salt to your food will make the wine taste softer. Salt also brings out the residual sugar in a wine such as an Alsatian Gewurtztraminer making them taste sweeter.

Tannins in red wine combine well with the flavours we find in rare steak, the two textures seem to merge causing the tannins to soften and melt into the other flavours. Tannins can however overpower the delicate texture and flavour of a simply cooked white fish such as sole when what you really need is something acidic and crisp (in the same way that we sometimes squeeze lemon juice on our fish) that will lift and emphasise the delicate flavours.

If however the fish is served with a tomato based sauce (which of course adds acidity to the dish) then a red wine will often work better such as a Chianti or light Merlot. A wine light in tannins such as Beaujolais can work quite well with many fish dishes.

Salty and richly savoury food such as mature cheese (and especially blue cheese) will generally go very well with a sweet white wine, which can cope with the richness much better than a dry white wine, or a mature soft red wine. Salt in food seems to make a sweet wine taste even sweeter as mentioned above and as most cheese contains salt a dessert wine almost always works well cheese.

Champagne works surprisingly well with sausages as the bubbles and acidity cut through the grease of the sausages and lift their flavour; proving once again that Champagne is the perfect breakfast wine. Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon also goes very well with Champagne (making an excellent Valentine’s breakfast).

Serving wine with dessert can prove difficult. Any dry wine will of course taste bitter but many sweet wines will also taste unpleasant if they are not sweeter than the dessert. Lemon tart for example will simply kill a wine like Sauternes or Coteaux du Layon but can work with a very sweet Riesling or Hungarian Tokaii.
Chocolate is notorious for killing the flavour of wine, mostly because of its rich texture and sweetness. Powerful sweet wines such as Banyuls, the rich fortified wine from Provence can go very well with chocolate as they are simply sweeter and richer. Australian Liqueur Muscat from Australia also works well as can young sweet port. The rich texture and bitterness in Guinness works surprisingly well with chocolate as anyone that has eaten a snack bar with a pint in a pub will attest.

Sometimes it is best not to serve any wine at all (for example with ice cream) and you may find beer works better with oily savoury flavours such as those found in Chinese food. Beer can also work well with Indian food for the same reasons but personally I think a dry Rosé is the best choice with good quality Indian Food.

Simple flavours such as roast chicken will take almost any wine type as they act as a blank canvas on which the wine can work its magic.

If you ever find yourself lucky enough to have very old rare wine to drink, such as 20 year old Bordeaux, you are probably best to stick with simple flavours such as plain grilled steak or roast beef to allow the wine to shine.

In conclusion, try to think about the flavours of the wine or the food you are trying to match and initially decide whether you would like to contrast or complement the flavour. If in doubt open one of each and let your guests decide which combination they prefer.

If you find you have made a bad choice and the combination is not working try adding salt to the food as this can counteract and soften the flavours that are jarring. Also try not to fret too much as sometimes the wine you like best will go best with the food you like best.

Wines
Graham Beck Brut South Africa. 23.99
Smoked Salmon and Dill Quiche (recipe below). Pork Sausages.

Iona Sauvignon Blanc, South Africa – RRP €16.59
Penne with chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. fry a shallot, a cubed chicken breast, some mushrooms. Add some white wine and boil it off a bit. Add a couple of spoons of creme fraiche and mix well. Add to the drained pasta while still hot and stir.

Chateau Tahbilk Marsanne '06 Australia. RRP €11.99
Ray and beurre noisette

Chateau Pique Segue '05, Bergerac, South West France RRP €11.50
Rare Steak - tanins and steak go particularly well together

Huia Pinot Noir '06 New Zealand RRP €19.99
Braised Rabbit. Duck breast.

Lehmann Barossa Shiraz 05 RRP € 10.99
Cassoulet. Cassoulet recipes are all over the internet or in any French cookbook. This is a passable one from the bbc website. leave out the duck legs or replace them with confit duck legs from a tin -

Lehman Botrytis Semillon 06 RRP €10.79
Orange Cake - This is a Claudia Roden Recipe from her Book of Middle Eastern Food. recipe is here:
Nigella's version (which I cooked because my clementines were in better condition than my oranges) is here: http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=20002

--------------Recipes-------------------
Smoked Salmon and Shallot Quiche (adapted from Sophie Grigson)
Pastry: (bought short crust can be used)
200g plain flour
100g butter
1 small egg.

Filling:
100g shallots, sliced
30g butter
3 medium egg yolks
225ml Crème Fraîche (1 tub)
1tbs chopped dill
Finely grated zest of 1 large or 2 small organic lemons
Salt and Pepper
100g Smoked Salmon cut in strips

Pastry: Whiz the flour and chilled butter in a food processor for 15 seconds and add the egg. Continue to blend for around 40 seconds until the pastry has formed a ball. Remove, wrap in cling film and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Pre heat the oven to Gas 6, 200C. Line a greased 8 inch tart tin with the pastry, prick all over with a fork, cover with tinfoil and weight down with old beans or rice. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, remove the tinfoil and beans/rice and replace in the oven for a further 5 minutes to allow the pastry to dry. Allow to cool until lukewarm. Turn the oven down to Gas 4, 180C.

Gently sauté the shallots in the butter until soft and translucent. Beat the egg yolks with the crème fraîche, dill, zest and salt and pepper. Spread the shallots and smoked salmon around the pastry base, pour on the cream, egg, dill mixture and bake in the oven at Gas 4, 180C for around 35 minutes until the quiche has set. Serve hot or lukewarm as preferred.

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