Vol. XXXII · The Plate, the Menu and the Craft Plate 8 of 11pairing, wine pairing, food and wine, acidity, tannin, sweetness, alcohol, chilli heat, salt, fat, tea pairing, alcohol-free pairing, sommelier, matching, contrast, complementF

Pairing Drinks.

A dry red wine with a chocolate dessert tastes sour and thin; the same wine with a steak tastes rich and smooth. The wine has not changed — the food has changed what you taste.

Pairing works through the tastes the drink and the food share or oppose (XI.2). Sweetness: a drink less sweet than the food tastes thin and sour beside it, which is why dessert wines must be sweeter than the dessert. Acidity: likewise, an acidic dish (a vinaigrette, a tomato sauce, goat's cheese) makes a low-acid drink taste flat, while a crisp, acidic drink cuts through fat and refreshes. Tannin — the drying, gripping astringency of red wine and strong tea — binds to proteins; fat and protein in a steak or hard cheese soften it, but with oily fish tannin tastes metallic. Salt in the food makes tannic wines taste smoother and sweet drinks more delicious; alcohol makes chilli burn more fiercely (XI.7).

On top of these structural rules, cooks look for bridges and contrasts of flavour — a herbal white with a herby dish, a smoky tea with grilled food — and for weight: light dishes with light drinks, rich with full-bodied. The same logic serves alcohol-free pairings, now common in restaurants: teas (green, oolong, black, pu'er, XXVII.11), juices balanced with acid, kombucha, infusions and shrubs can be built to match a dish's acidity, sweetness and astringency. Chinese and Japanese meals have long paired tea and food in this way. The workshop scores a pairing.

Below: a teaching score for the dish and drink you choose, built from the structural rules — acidity, sweetness, tannin with fat or oily fish, alcohol with chilli heat, salt with tannin and sweetness — each contribution shown, with a verdict.

What you will learn
Workshop
Teaching profiles on 0–1 scales. Dishes (fat, salt, acid, sweet, heat, oily fish): oysters (0.2, 0.7, 0.3, 0, 0, 1); steak (0.8, 0.5, 0.1, 0, 0, 0); spicy curry (0.5, 0.6, 0.3, 0.2, 0.9, 0); chocolate cake (0.6, 0.2, 0.1, 0.9, 0, 0); goat's cheese salad (0.5, 0.5, 0.7, 0.1, 0, 0). Drinks (acid, tannin, sweet, alcohol 0–1 for 0–15 %): crisp white (0.8, 0, 0.05, 0.8); big red (0.5, 0.9, 0.05, 0.95); off-dry riesling (0.85, 0, 0.4, 0.55); sweet dessert wine (0.6, 0, 1, 0.8); oolong tea (0.3, 0.4, 0, 0); sparkling water with lime (0.6, 0, 0, 0). Score terms after the structural rules described in the text.

Structure first, then flavour

Try the classic failures in the workshop: a big red with chocolate cake (the cake is far sweeter than the wine, which turns sour and astringent), a big red with oysters (tannin meets oily, briny shellfish and tastes metallic), a high-alcohol wine with a fiery curry (the burn intensifies). Then the classic successes: a big red with steak (fat and protein tame the tannin), a crisp white with oysters (acid matches brine), an off-dry riesling with the curry (sweetness soothes heat, low alcohol does not inflame it), a sweet wine with the cake.

Pairing at home: match weight first — light with light, rich with rich; make sure the drink is at least as sweet and as acidic as the food; serve tannic reds with fat and protein, not with oily fish or very spicy food; with chilli choose low alcohol and a touch of sweetness, or a cold beer or tea; with salty food, sweet or tannic drinks both work. For an alcohol-free pairing, brew teas to strength (XXVII.11), balance juices with acid and a little tannin (a splash of strong tea), and serve them cold in good glasses — they deserve the same care.

At the stove

Taste a dry red wine or strong black tea, then a bite of cheese, then the drink again; then a bite of dark chocolate, then the drink. Note how each bite changes it.

Sommeliers' old saying "what grows together goes together" — regional wines with regional food — works often, partly because cuisines and wines evolved together; but the structural rules explain why it works when it does, and what to do when the food and wine come from different worlds.

Terms

Tannin
Astringent polyphenols in red wine and tea that bind proteins.
Acidity
Sourness that refreshes and cuts fat.
Body
The weight of a drink in the mouth.
Alcohol-free pairing
Teas, juices and infusions built to match dishes.
Pair by structure: the drink at least as sweet and as acidic as the food; tannin with fat and protein, never with oily fish; low alcohol (and a touch of sweetness) with chilli; salt softens tannin. Then match weight and flavour. Teas and alcohol-free drinks follow the same rules.

Sources

  1. H. McGee, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, 2nd ed., Scribner, 2004.
  2. A teaching value chosen for the course: the right order of magnitude and shape, not a measurement of a particular food.