Ethnic Food & Wine

Marrying Ethnic Cuisines with Wine

All of us here at The Spice Depot love food. We love spices and herbs, and yes it is true we like wine too. What we love more than anything though is helping create those memorable kitchen or dining table experiences that stitch together to form the fabric of our lives. Preparing and sharing food and drink binds us together as families, as friends, as colleagues, and as people across all ethnic groups. Strengthening those ties by making life spicier and more delicious for our customers is a worthy pursuit to which we are fully committed.

But wine experts and wine snobs we are not, so if it is perfection you seek, you likely shouldn’t park here. Culinary experimentation is fun and adventurous and pairing food and wine outside of the box often leads to delicious discovery. So experiment, eat, drink, enjoy and remember to keep us posted.

A Balancing Act Everyone Can Learn

Most of us grew up hearing ‘white wine with white meat, chicken and fish and red wine with red meat and pasta’. When in absolute doubt perhaps, but thankfully that advice as a hard and fast rule went out of fashion when regional dining came in.

The good news for food and wine enthusiasts is that, pairing wine with regional cuisine can be done well by just about anyone, and mastered by many. And, thanks to the explosive growth of wine culture in North America, very many excellent no-alcohol wines are available in retail outlets and in restaurants, and these too follow the same basic wine pairing ‘rules’.

Two things govern cuisine pairings – the so-called WEIGHT and complexity of the dish or menu and its SEASONING, and that of the wine. Strike a balance and you’ve very likely cooked up a match made in heaven.

Remember now and throughout your wine pairing adventures that there are no absolute rules. You will disagree with some advice and that’s a very good thing. The only absolute hard and fast rule is that you and your guests enjoy the food and wine pairing and that it adds to your culinary experience. If it works for you, it works.

These days we think less about color and more about body and balance. A better starter rule of thumb than the old color rule would be ‘lighter with lighter and heavier with heavier’. So start with the WEIGHT and complexity of the food, and then start thinking about its SEASONING – spices, herbs, citrus etc that create the five tastes sweet, salty, sour, pungent and bitter (the Japanese introduced a sixth taste, umami, which relates to raw fish, oysters, mushrooms – see Japanese Cuisine).

A good place to start when considering weight is the sauce, or herb & spice rub if there is one. In most cases, a dish’s flavor is dictated by the sauce or seasoned crust or rub. For example, a citrus flavored sauce over chicken will require a wine whose acid level can stand up to the acid level found in the citrus based sauce. Conversely, chicken prepared in a heavy cheese sauce will pair better with a wine that cuts through the fat to cleanse the palette. Both dishes used in this example featured chicken, but their pairing requirements were very different.

Ask yourself, is the sauce light, delicate or mild? Or is it rich, intense and heavy? What spices and herbs have been used? How was the food prepared? These questions will help you determine the stand-out flavor of the food. Remember too that when we talk about the weight of the dish we must also consider its complexity – related but separate concepts. So, although heavier wines most often pair best with heavier dishes, it is not always so for complexity. This sounds more complicated than it is, but don’t worry.

Striking a balance of complexity in pairing food and wine is much like striking a balance in relationships – there generally isn’t room for two complex personalities. More complex foods should be paired with wines that are fruity and one dimensional, while complex wines should be paired with food that is relatively basic. This prevents the wine and food from competing with each other for the spotlight and will really allow for one or the other to shine through. If you pair a complex wine with a complex dish – though both may be excellent – what ensues is a culinary feud between the personality of the wine and that of the food.

Something else to remember is that any wine enjoyed on its own, tastes very different than that same wine tastes with food. Components in the wine interact with ingredients in the food to create new flavors, tastes and smells. Don’t assume that your favorite sipping wine will be the best choice for dinner, and likewise don’t assume that the big Spanish Rioja you enjoyed with tapas last week will be the best choice for sipping fireside. But then again, it may be, and if that’s the case ... bravo! This is all a matter of taste, after all.

Cliff Notes

If you know quite a lot about the characteristics of specific grape varietals, styles and blends, wine growing regions, and vintages, then wine pairing likely comes naturally to you. If not, here are a few ‘generalities’ to keep in mind:

• Higher acid wines like Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, etc, generally pair well with foods that have relative high acidity.
• Sweeter dishes will benefit from a wine that delivers slight sweetness. Sweeter foods can make wine taste drier than they would otherwise, therefore a wine with a touch of residual sugar will provide balance.
• Salty foods too, pair well with wines with slight residual sugar. The sweetness in the wine contrasts with the salt, balancing sweet and salty nicely.
• Bitter foods can render some wines overwhelmingly bitter. Conversely some bitter wines can be tamed by fattier dishes. To off-set food bitterness try a fruitier but full-bodied wine like as Chardonnay or Merlot – an excellent example of both red and white wines solving the same culinary conundrum.
• Richer, fattier meat dishes pair well with reds like Shiraz or Syrah that are high in tannins. These varietals pair well with pepper as well as pepper off-sets tannins and enhances the wine’s fruit.
• Spicy dishes and high-tannin, high alcohol red wines combine to really turn-up the heat, so unless you really love screaming hot food, such pairings might best be avoided. Try crisp, low-alcohol wines that are relatively light with a touch of sweetness. The sugar will help tone down the heat.
• Desserts deserve special consideration due to their general sweetness and temperature. Champagne is a good choice for most desserts, but some fruit-savory desserts like flans and cheese tarts pair well with off-dry or semi-sweet dessert wines with corresponding notes like apple, apricot, or berries. Citrusy desserts pair well with acid-cutting muscats and late harvest or ice wines made from shriveled late harvest grapes with super concentrated sugars. Most chocolate desserts love port, sherry and late harvest red wines like zinfandel. Truffles or unadulterated dark organic chocolate pair gorgeously with brandy.

When in doubt, perhaps try a Pinot Noir (red) or a Sauvignon Blanc (white), these two versatile wines pair well with most food – and both names are fun to say in front of company or in a restaurant. If all else fails, use geography. Most countries with rich wine cultures grew their regional cuisines alongside their wine industries and regional pairings, therefore, come naturally. Pairing central Italian cuisine with central Italian wine, the wines of Burgundy with beef bourguignon, California spa cuisine with Napa Valley or Sonoma wines, etc.

This works well of course until we go out for Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese cuisine, Mexican, Caribbean or Middle Eastern food, as there are no regional wines for pairing. Pairing these so-called exotic cuisines with wine requires a bit more homework, but don’t worry because we did some for you. See Wine Pairing notes for Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, Caribbean and Middle Eastern cuisines. Also see French, Greek, Italian, Westcoast and Holiday cuisines.

Spice Notes

So where do spices fit into the mix? Simply put, the sensory and olfactory (taste, texture and smell) elements in certain wines ‘generally’ pair well with certain spices and spice blends, and ‘generally’ poorly with others. Again, there are no absolutes because we all have different preferences and sensitivities, but conventional wine wisdom suggests the following ‘general’ pairing profiles. As examples, we have listed just a few of the most widely available types of wines, though there are hundreds to choose from and the profiles vary by country of origin. California cabernets, Australian cabernets and French cabernets have vastly different profiles (due to differences in climate, geography, soil, regional styles, blends, etc) though they are all made with cabernet grapes.

Keep in mind too that these profiles aim straight down the middle, as we say repeatedly, and there is of course room on either side. Something else we say repeatedly is that good Champagne goes well with just about everything, and of course nothing.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Flavors: rich, complex, black cherry, supple, oak, currant, plum, tannic, earthy, bold
Foods: blue cheese, beef, veal, lamb, red pasta sauce, strong cheese, dark chocolate
Spice Pairings: mustard, paprika, rosemary, thyme, chocolate, bay leaf, parsley, nutmeg, marjoram, allspice

Chardonnay
Flavors: rich, complex, buttery, bold, apples, figs, green, melon, pear, citrus, spice, dry, oaky, round
Foods: cream/white sauces, poultry, salmon, veal, crab, scallops
Spice Pairings: mustard, rosemary, tarragon, cloves, ginger, sage, Caribbean spices, lemon zest, thyme

Chenin Blanc
Flavors: melon, peach, citrus, sweet, dry
Foods: shellfish, poultry, Asian food
Spice Pairings: dill, fennel, allspice, cloves, parsley, nutmeg

Chianti
Flavors: spice, cherry, anise, full bodied
Foods: red meat, pork, red pasta sauces, poultry
Spice Pairings:basil, oregano, rosemary, pepper, nutmeg

Gewurztraminer
Flavors: peach, apricot, melon
Foods: spicy Asian food, pork, poultry
Spice Pairings: cilantro, mint, black pepper, ginger, curry

Merlot
Flavors: raspberry, oaky, medium bodied, cherry, tannic, herbaceous, chocolate
Foods: red meat, salmon, pasta, game meat
Spice Pairing: basil, oregano, nutmeg, rosemary, allspice

Pinot Gris
Flavors:medium bodied, melon, honey, green apple, spice, figs, almonds
Foods: fruit, shellfish, cheese, cream sauces, red sauces, poultry
Spice Pairings: tarragon, anise, thyme, chives, fennel, orange essence, green peppercorns, basil, rosemary

Pinot Noir
Flavors: spice, black cherry, currant, tar, cola, smoky, floral, mulberry
Foods: poultry, game meat, tomato sauce, strong cheese
Spice Pairings: rosemary, thyme, allspice, mint, sage, cinnamon

Rieslings
Flavors: complex and classic fruit flavors of green apple, peach, apricot and citrus; sweet, dry and off dry.
Foods: spicy dishes, most Asian food, crab, fruit, poultry and fish
Spice Pairings: chervil, sage, curry powder, chili, dill, parsley, coriander

Sauvignon Blanc
Flavors:crisp, fruity, melon, citrus, grassy, apricot, vanilla, herbaceous and pineapple
Foods: Fish, seafood, lighter pastas, salads, poultry
Spice Pairings: basil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, cumin, ginger, black pepper

Syrah or Shiraz
Flavors:complex, spicy, pepper, black cherry, tar, leather, nutty, smooth, tannic, plum
Foods: beef, poultry, salmon, stronger cheeses
Spice Pairings: tarragon, rosemary, juniper, white pepper, parsley, sage, garlic, thyme, oregano, basil

Zinfandel (red)
Flavors: full bodied, black pepper, oak, chewy, cherry, jammy, strawberry
Foods: game meat, barbecued meat, tomato sauces (pasta, pizza, etc.)
Spice Pairings: rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, pepper, garlic, clove, tarragon

Zinfandel (white)
Flavors:sweet, peach, watermelon
Foods: Asian food, chicken, pork
Spice Pairings: black pepper, garlic, thyme, tarragon, curry powder, clove, bay leaf

We would love to hear about your food and wine pairing successes and failures, and also how our spice and herb products fit into your culinary adventures. Please send us your Suggestions and Comments