ELEMENTS OF FOOD AND WINE PAIRING

There are people who carelessly match any dish with any drink, and then there are those who painstakingly try to balance food flavors with the perfect drink. In fact, to know how to pair wine and food can improve your experience of eating. Below are some wine and food pairing tips that would certainly make your next dinner a memorable experience. Food and Wine Pairing Wine gets its flavors from specific components like sugar, fruit, acid, alcohol, and tannin. The quantity of these components in wine determines its flavor. Obviously, food also has components that contribute to its flavor, but the usual flavoring components in any food are fat, salt, acid, and sugar. The most successful food and wine pairings would keep that in mind, and feature complementary components, textures, and richness. Apart from that, there are some important elements, which make both white wine and red wine pairings excellent. These elements are derived from the characteristics of food and how these food items mingle with the characteristics of wine. Fat Many of our favorite foods have high fat levels, for instance, meat and dairy products. Wine does not contain any fat, so while matching wine with fatty foods, you should ensure to balance the fat with acid, or match the richness with alcohol. If truth be told, this is the reason why steak tastes so good with Cabernet wines. The fat and proteins in the meat softens the mouth drying tannins in the wine. This will make your tongue ready to sense the fruity, forest flavors in the wine and complement the fatty flavors of the steak. Salt It is said that there are not much wine varieties that can go well with salty foods, but you can make some remarkable salty food and sweet wine pairings with a bit of imagination. Sauternes and Bleu cheese is a popular classic food and wine pair. Moreover, sparkling wines tastes well with salty, fried foods. Acid When looking for a wine to go with an acidic dish, you should ensure that the acidity of the wine is at least equal to that of the food; else, the wine will not taste good. Salads can be a challenge with wines, but you can moderate the acidity by cutting back on vinegar or lemon. Sweet Sweet foods go well with sweet wines, but you should watch for the degree of sweetness. Light fruity sweetness can be matched well with white wines like Chardonnay. Besides, the higher alcohol content in the wine balances the sugar in the food.