RM: Yo, bro, what’s up? Wha’cha thinking so seriously?
CS: I am thinking why you can’t do things right. Last time I asked you to bring champagne to my birthday party, and what did you bring? A bottle of red and a bottle of white wine!
RM: Oh, I thought it would be a good idea to pair the wines with the foods that you have at the party. It is the hip thing now, you know?
CS: Pairing white wine with white meats and red wine with red meats, and all that jazz?
RM: Well, something along that line… but it has gotten more sophisticated now.
CS: Like how?
RM: Well, there are certain rules of thumb, such as you should match tannic red wines with grilled steak or lamb chops because the fats in these meats will tone down the astringent sensation of the wine. For example, if you are eating steak you would want to select a Shiraz or Zinfandel to go with it.
CS: I see.
RM: Similarly, if you are having Japanese teriyaki, which is a little sweet, you would want to pair it with an off-dry wine such as Chenin Blanc to balance the flavor.
CS: Why?
RM: Because if you pair it with a dry wine, the wine will appear even drier.
CS: I still don’t get it. Why do we need to pair wine and food?
RM: The main objective is to heighten our enjoyment of both the wine and the food. A wine that is full-bodied will overpower a light, delicate dish, and similarly a lighter wine will not be noticed if you drink it with a hearty roast. It is like drinking water. You want to complement it so that you can enjoy both the wine and the food.
CS: Well, I beg to differ. What if I like a full-bodied wine to go with my delicate food because I like the contrast in flavors? One moment it is delicate and then another it is robust. Don’t think I am the weird one here - take for example my uncles: they enjoy having XO brandy with whatever meals that they are having. Doesn’t that overpower most foods?
RM: Well, that is the older generation, not us …
CS: For me, I don’t like to be told what I like or what I don’t like!
RM: Hey, man, cool down, why so defensive and worked up?
CS: Of course. It is an insult to have these rules telling me how to or how not to enjoy my wine and food.
RM: Hey, these are only guidelines - you don’t have to follow them if you don’t like it.
CS: Let me tell you something: In China, people are drinking Maotai with all kinds of food. Now, this is about 60% alcohol and it burns if you put a lighted match to it. And, it will definitely numb your mouth when you drink it and I am sure you won’t be able to taste the food after that. But they are enjoying themselves! Are you telling me the Chinese don’t know how to appreciate wine and food? And, we need these stupid guidelines?
RM: But this is western wine that we are talking about …
CS: Hogwash! What western and what eastern wines? What wine is not important – what is important is one’s state of mind. It is not so much the origin of the wine than one’s appreciative state of mind when drinking it. If you are in a good appreciative state of mind, it will taste good, and vice versa!
RM: Gee, we are not into zen, are we? We are talking about just the enjoyment of the wines themselves. Back to the wine, ok?
CS: Ok, in that case, whether you like the wine or not is subjective or personal. And, this liking depends on your background, culture, exposure, status in society, and things like that. These western wines have not been part of our culture and have only been around recently, so I am quite confident to say that they are something that we learned to appreciate, or rather something we have learned to like. It may not be because they taste so fantastic but maybe they are the trend now and we want to be seen as being trendy. Since you appreciate them so much, why don’t you tell me why you like them?
RM: For the Cabernet Sauvignon which I brought that day, I liked it because it was bursting with ripe black cherries with hints of perfumed floral notes on the nose. This was followed through with layers of black berries, prunes, and mocha flavors on the palate, backed by an interesting dash of mineral notes, and rounded with grainy silky tannins.
CS: Wow, so chim! You have sophisticated taste, don’t you? I didn’t know you can differentiate between so many fruit flavors. If you ask me for my opinion, I would say that they actually taste more like grape juice than real wine. Real wine to me is like maotai (茅台), shaoxing (绍兴), zhuyeqing (竹叶青), and wuliangye (五粮液). Do you know how many percent of our population are able to appreciate wine like you?
RM: No idea. Not many, I guess maybe 1% of the population. Definitely less than 10%.
CS: I guess wine and food pairing is more for this minority as they have a common knowledge and experience in wine and they know what they are talking about. So, if you are throwing a party for these people, it would be a good idea to put some thought into pairing the wine and food. And, be prepared for an expensive party ‘coz all the dishes would have different tastes and this means you need different wines to pair with different dishes. As for the rest of us poor wine dummies, just leave us alone and allow us to enjoy it our way because I feel that as long as we like it with the food, it is a good pairing.
RM: Aiyo, today why are you so touchy? Why don’t we go and drink liang teh? I buy you liang teh , lah! I think you are very heaty and need to cool down a little. You didn’t have a good time with your girlfriend last night, huh?
CS: Ya, I’m sure I’m gonna have a good time with you later.
RM: Hehe, no thanks, I got sophisticated taste and I know what I like.
CS: Really? Do you?
CS: I am thinking why you can’t do things right. Last time I asked you to bring champagne to my birthday party, and what did you bring? A bottle of red and a bottle of white wine!
RM: Oh, I thought it would be a good idea to pair the wines with the foods that you have at the party. It is the hip thing now, you know?
CS: Pairing white wine with white meats and red wine with red meats, and all that jazz?
RM: Well, something along that line… but it has gotten more sophisticated now.
CS: Like how?
RM: Well, there are certain rules of thumb, such as you should match tannic red wines with grilled steak or lamb chops because the fats in these meats will tone down the astringent sensation of the wine. For example, if you are eating steak you would want to select a Shiraz or Zinfandel to go with it.
CS: I see.
RM: Similarly, if you are having Japanese teriyaki, which is a little sweet, you would want to pair it with an off-dry wine such as Chenin Blanc to balance the flavor.
CS: Why?
RM: Because if you pair it with a dry wine, the wine will appear even drier.
CS: I still don’t get it. Why do we need to pair wine and food?
RM: The main objective is to heighten our enjoyment of both the wine and the food. A wine that is full-bodied will overpower a light, delicate dish, and similarly a lighter wine will not be noticed if you drink it with a hearty roast. It is like drinking water. You want to complement it so that you can enjoy both the wine and the food.
CS: Well, I beg to differ. What if I like a full-bodied wine to go with my delicate food because I like the contrast in flavors? One moment it is delicate and then another it is robust. Don’t think I am the weird one here - take for example my uncles: they enjoy having XO brandy with whatever meals that they are having. Doesn’t that overpower most foods?
RM: Well, that is the older generation, not us …
CS: For me, I don’t like to be told what I like or what I don’t like!
RM: Hey, man, cool down, why so defensive and worked up?
CS: Of course. It is an insult to have these rules telling me how to or how not to enjoy my wine and food.
RM: Hey, these are only guidelines - you don’t have to follow them if you don’t like it.
CS: Let me tell you something: In China, people are drinking Maotai with all kinds of food. Now, this is about 60% alcohol and it burns if you put a lighted match to it. And, it will definitely numb your mouth when you drink it and I am sure you won’t be able to taste the food after that. But they are enjoying themselves! Are you telling me the Chinese don’t know how to appreciate wine and food? And, we need these stupid guidelines?
RM: But this is western wine that we are talking about …
CS: Hogwash! What western and what eastern wines? What wine is not important – what is important is one’s state of mind. It is not so much the origin of the wine than one’s appreciative state of mind when drinking it. If you are in a good appreciative state of mind, it will taste good, and vice versa!
RM: Gee, we are not into zen, are we? We are talking about just the enjoyment of the wines themselves. Back to the wine, ok?
CS: Ok, in that case, whether you like the wine or not is subjective or personal. And, this liking depends on your background, culture, exposure, status in society, and things like that. These western wines have not been part of our culture and have only been around recently, so I am quite confident to say that they are something that we learned to appreciate, or rather something we have learned to like. It may not be because they taste so fantastic but maybe they are the trend now and we want to be seen as being trendy. Since you appreciate them so much, why don’t you tell me why you like them?
RM: For the Cabernet Sauvignon which I brought that day, I liked it because it was bursting with ripe black cherries with hints of perfumed floral notes on the nose. This was followed through with layers of black berries, prunes, and mocha flavors on the palate, backed by an interesting dash of mineral notes, and rounded with grainy silky tannins.
CS: Wow, so chim! You have sophisticated taste, don’t you? I didn’t know you can differentiate between so many fruit flavors. If you ask me for my opinion, I would say that they actually taste more like grape juice than real wine. Real wine to me is like maotai (茅台), shaoxing (绍兴), zhuyeqing (竹叶青), and wuliangye (五粮液). Do you know how many percent of our population are able to appreciate wine like you?
RM: No idea. Not many, I guess maybe 1% of the population. Definitely less than 10%.
CS: I guess wine and food pairing is more for this minority as they have a common knowledge and experience in wine and they know what they are talking about. So, if you are throwing a party for these people, it would be a good idea to put some thought into pairing the wine and food. And, be prepared for an expensive party ‘coz all the dishes would have different tastes and this means you need different wines to pair with different dishes. As for the rest of us poor wine dummies, just leave us alone and allow us to enjoy it our way because I feel that as long as we like it with the food, it is a good pairing.
RM: Aiyo, today why are you so touchy? Why don’t we go and drink liang teh? I buy you liang teh , lah! I think you are very heaty and need to cool down a little. You didn’t have a good time with your girlfriend last night, huh?
CS: Ya, I’m sure I’m gonna have a good time with you later.
RM: Hehe, no thanks, I got sophisticated taste and I know what I like.
CS: Really? Do you?
2 comments:
Hi Mr Sin!
I do find the food pairings with wine is indeed important. Complimenting the food with wine and vice versa makes our meal(s) more enjoyable.
Although there are others who prefer to have strong contrast in the meal(s), like CS, I believe that we could always enhance the flavours with wines.
"Being open to different tastes makes the world of food more enjoyable."
That was what a friend of mine told me. Indeed. =D
Crystal Teo, TJ02
Hello Mr Sin,
Guess who? :D Anyway, i didn't know anything about pairing wine with food until i read your blog. Amazing... Tannic red wine with grilled steak or lamb chops. Reason= fats in these meats will tone down the astringent sensation of the wine. Even though i've no idea what it means, I've learn something new. I hope that you can explain to me in details. My mum doesn't allow me to use wine in my cooking. She's afraid i'll watse the wine. Now i can prove her wrong. Hahaha... Sadly, i can only write 50-100 but i'll talk to you personally. Thanks for the info and keep up the good work! Andy J2
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