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Pairing Wine with Comfort Foods
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Something happens at the end of a long day and particularly after the end of a very long week: the unyielding urge for the comfort foods of life. Imaginary euphoric smells from years gone by, typically of those from childhood, fill the nostrils with sweet cinnamon and apples, bubbling lasagna, or healing chicken soup. The question is: what is to be done with the flavors of our past mixing with the sophisticated now acquired tastes for oak, fruit-forward notes, malolactic fermentation, soft tannin, or lemongrass? When grabbing for comfort foods are the sophisticated taste buds being hushed or worse utterly ignored? Not on your life!
Rather, these are the nights to celebrate. The coming together of your life story: where you came from and where you are now. Your taste buds tell a story and when memories are combined with excellent taste there is no stopping what is yet to come.
These ideas are all fine and dandy and supply a very romantic level of food and wine pairing but where to start? First, examine what it is you crave. The lasagna homemade by Nonna is reaching for a wine to not only match but also enhance the tomato marinara, Italian oregano, and fresh mozzarella. A Sangiovese will stand up to the tomato’s acidic nature and the taste of the fruit in the sauce. In addition, fresh herbs and cheese allow the wine’s rustic character to live. Nonna would be proud.
If the subtleties of a southern kitchen full of chicken soup, fried chicken with potatoes and greens, or roasted chicken with sweet potatoes (see a theme?) are on the menu search for something a little different. As before, though, look at the ingredients of dinner before selecting. Children eat; adults study the subtleties of taste. Although when hearing the menu choice of chicken, one’s first choice may be an oak-laden Chardonnay; this won’t necessarily go with the chicken dishes of childhood. The dishes above are prepared with Mama’s sugar. Literally. Although, she may not be adding sugar, these dishes crave a wine that has a tinge of sweet to cut through the oil of fried chicken or the lovely sweetness of a buttered sweet potato. Riesling’s, by nature, are subtle and the dishes they accompany should be the same. The comforting chicken soups chock full of root vegetables are practically begging for the Rhine varietal.
Like memories, food and wine pairing is in the details not necessarily the overall event. Take a moment before kicking off the weekend to think about the ingredients of happy memories and pair them with your palate of today.
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