With the holiday season upon us, even though we are not celebrating religious holidays there are always more oportunities to entertain friends and family more frequently than usual since most people -unlike us- are in a festive mood and like to go out/visit other people  or travel more and just enjoy each others company under the christmas lights.

Entairtaining can be a bit stresfull since you want your guests to enjoy themselves and have fun and inevitably sometimes you end up missing out on all the fun while  focusing on how to be a great hostess.

I’ve put together a simple yet hopefully effective mini guide to help you master ‘the art’ ( slightly cringing at the improper use of the word ) of wine and food pairing so that you can relax and enjoy a glass of wine with your guests without having to worry about it time and again.

First and foremost:

• Go with your first instinct. Food and wine pairing is undeniably a matter of personal taste,rather than following certain rules. There are more important things in life that stressing over what goes with that.

• Look for balance:

•  Acid needs acid.

If the wine has less acidity than the food, the wine will taste flat. So if you are planning to serve a salad with an acidic vinegrette for example or a piece of white meat/veggies marinated in lemon juice, those would work better with a glass of acicid wine like a zippy sauvignon blanc.

•  Tannins Need Fat

Dishes high in fat would go well with a wine high in tannins to help you cleanse the palate. A cabernet Sauvignon paired with a juicy meat full of flavour such as lamb will refresh the palate after each bite of meat.

• Pair Wine With Dominant Flavor

Quite often it is not the main ingredient in a dish that provides the dominant flavour.  For example when you season a creamy meat sauce with curry,your dominat flavour will be the curry not the meat,so you would probably want to match the wine to your sauce.

 

• Heat Needs Sugar

Sweetness will balance the heat, so sweet wines are classic companions of spicy rich meals.

• Sweet Needs Sweeter

The general rule of thumb is to serve a wine at least as sweet or sweeter than the food being served.

• Look for flavour links.If your wine has hints of herbs try including those ingredients to your dish.

Simple trick that workss every time.

• Salt Needs Crispness.

wines that are acidic, fruity or crisp, light-bodied but full of savory depth and crispness will satisfyingly balance foods high in salt. Champagne is perfect with anything salty.

• Go for Similar Weight and Texture:Similarly weighted food and wine complement each other.

• Cheese & Wine? Think Pink. Some cheeses go better with white wine, some with red; yet almost all pair well with dry rosé, which has the acidity of white wine and the fruit character of red.

• Have fun trying different combinations and break the rules.

Speak soon,

Chelf