Pairing the Unpairable
As
restaurateurs and retail proprietors, one of the many
questions we are frequently asked by our clients is about
food and wine pairings. Many times the questions are about
easy pairings that follow the old rules of red wine with
meat and white with fish. When this rule was coined, spices
were very expensive and wine was the seasoning. Today,
however, spices are not so expensive, which allows us to
step outside the norm. For example, one of the more popular
“rule-breakers” these days is to serve salmon, especially
wild salmon, and Pinot Noir together.
But what happens
when our clients or chefs throw us the proverbial curve ball
by having an element that makes a classic pairing only
marginally fair or even unworkable? My thought process
usually starts with looking at the origin of the food.
Considering where the food is from can often give you an
insight into what to pair it with. Is it a dish with a rich
acidic tomato based sauce and the request is for red? Italy
is certainly a land that has a few tomatoes and a
Sangiovese-based wine might be the answer. Another option is
to step outside the expected whites and reds and get
creative. Consider Champagne as a case in point. Champagne
is one of those wines that almost always has a universally
positive reaction to it. It evokes a big smile followed by
“Oh, we’re having Champagne!” as if it was the epitome of
decadence. This is a wonderful reaction, but I would rather
our clients had the same reaction as that of the legendary
Madame Bollinger: “I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when
I’m sad. Otherwise I never touch it unless I’m thirsty.”
Being part of a family that owns a major Champagne house
certainly might have had an influence here, but you don’t
have to be such an owner to enjoy it outside the realm of
celebration. One of the major advantages that Champagne has
over all over styles and kinds of wine is that it is the
trump card in food and wine pairing. There is almost no food
that a Champagne style cannot pair with, from a Plate of
Fleur de Mer with a Non-Dosage to a Steak with Rose
Champagne. The aforementioned salmon would also work equally
as well with a creamy Blanc du Blanc or a Rose.
Sake is another
route to take when wine won’t do the trick. Quality Sake has
numerous styles that are very adaptable to different types
of food. You could pair any number of Sakes with dishes from
a lighter style of Junmai to the richer Junmai Daiginjo or
the unusual Ko-Shu. There is also aged Sake that has a great
nutty note and which I have successfully used in a lobster
based soup with chestnuts. The overlapping nuttiness was
delicious and the intense richness of the soup was enjoyably
lightened.
Madeira and
Sherry are also good options for food and “wine” pairings.
Sercials are great with consommes and Manzanillas are great
with dishes that have an innate saltiness and acidity. A
dish I fondly remember as a particular challenge was a Foie
Gras with hazelnuts, sherry vinegar and asparagus. What was
I to do with the fatness of Foie, the sharp note of vinegar
and the metallic note that asparagus gives to most wine
while trying to keep the subtle note of the hazelnuts?
Fortunately I had a Chef who enjoyed wine and was open to
new ideas. He was willing to replace the Sherry Vinegar with
Madeira Vinegar and a Verdelho Madeira worked perfectly. The
hint of sweetness, the round nuttiness and balance acid
brought all the elements of the dish together and worked
deliciously.
And finally,
using beer as a pairing isn’t a note of surrender. Introduce
your client to the yeasty lemony wheat/hefeweizen, the
slight sweet fruit flavored lambics or the dark chocolate
coffee favors of a good stout. Very spicy cuisine is one
viable option that goes well with beer. Also, it’s worth
finding out if you have clients who prefer beer to wine.
They might be quite amenable to a beer and food pairing
proposal.
These are just a
few tricks I’ve learned over the years departing from the
standard way of thinking. But whenever possible, it is
always preferable to taste the wine with the food. Wine and
food pairing theory and what actually happens are sometimes
a little different. So my last piece of advice on pairing
the “unpairable” is to see such a dish as something to
inspire you to sample a lot of different
beverages.
