208 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
208 lines
6.6 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
foodanddrink
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wine
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5708939
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-----
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# The perils of food and wine matching
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## Is drinking red wine with fish a social faux pas, or are such rules made to
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be broken?
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![Matching food and wine: Baddy Red Grant (Robert Shaw), right, gives the game
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away by ordering chianti with fish in the Bond classic 'From Russia With
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Love'][1]
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No match for 007: Baddy Red Grant (Robert Shaw), right, gives the game away by
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ordering chianti with fish in the Bond classic 'From Russia With Love' Photo:
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Allstar/Cinetext/UNITED ARTISTS
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By Jonathan Ray 12:35PM BST 01 Jul 2009
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[Comments][2]
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Something curious has just happened. I am at a tasting of the relaunched
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Burgundy label, Blason de Bourgogne, and while I'm hugely impressed with the
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range - the wines are great value, and nicely _terroir_-typical - a couple of
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examples disappoint. The 2007 chablis appears sharp and insipid and the 2008
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macon villages seems one-dimensional and acidic. I mark them down accordingly.
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The tasting over, we head into supper. Alongside a first course of smoked
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salmon and gravlax we have two glasses of white wine. Both are really
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delicious and match the fish perfectly. The first is crisp and very faintly
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honeyed, the second reveals hints of cream and butter. I reach for the
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bottles, only to discover what you've probably already guessed. They were the
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self same let-downs of earlier.
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The wines have been completely transformed by the food and I admit that I'm
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quite taken aback. I mark them up accordingly.
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"The fact is that all wines, even white wines, are made to be drunk with
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food," says Marc Vachet of Blason. "And it sometimes takes a certain dish to
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unlock the flavours within. I'd say this salmon dish is the perfect key to
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these wines."
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I have to confess that I've always taken a rather dim view of food and wine
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matching, believing that most wines go with most foods. Further, I think that
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far too many people take it far too seriously. My basic rule of thumb is the
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lighter the dish, the lighter the wine and the heavier the dish, the heavier
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the wine.
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Of course, there are certain classic pairings that just can't go wrong, such
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as chablis and oysters, red burgundy and _boeuf bourguignon_ or tokaji and
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_tarte tatin_. And there are some foods that are notoriously tricky to match,
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such as most soups and egg dishes and anything chocolatey or vinegary.
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On the whole, though, I tend to agree with my old friend, James Palmer, patron
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of Michelin-starred Roussillon in London's Pimlico. "Food-matching is for
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those who thrill to the debate as to the best route to take from Putney to
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Plymouth, or who enjoy solving quadratic equations," he says. "It's something
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to do only when time is weighing heavily on your hands and you are the lucky
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owner of an infinite supply of patience. It is not something that suits when
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an instant decision is required ("Supper's on the table!") or when everyone
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around the restaurant table is animated, thirsty, eating something different
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and apparently deaf."
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## Related Articles
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* [A perfect pairing][3]
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24 Apr 2009
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* [Champagne: how to match with food][4]
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12 Jun 2009
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I was brought up not to drink red wine with fish or white wine with cheese.
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But anyone who has enjoyed a succulent tuna or salmon steak with a Central
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Otago or Oregon pinot noir or a gooey _Brie_ de Meaux with a fine old
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meursault will know what nonsense that all is.
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Remember that scene in _From Russia With Love_ where Sean Connery's James Bond
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rumbles Robert Shaw's baddy, Red Grant, after the villain gauchely orders
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chianti with his grilled sole?
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"Red wine with fish?" asks 007. "Well that should have told me something."
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Not these days it shouldn't.
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"Food and wine matching should be important, but not a tyranny," argues Fiona
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Beckett, whose website ([www.matchingfoodandwine.com][5]) is the definitive
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one on the subject. "Wine is enough of a tyranny already and we don't want to
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put people off. But as you have just found with your chablis and smoked
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salmon, certain foods can make certain wines taste amazing and vice versa.
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Conversely, there are some pairings that end up ruining both."
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It's clear, talking to Beckett, that "rules" are made to be broken. She has a
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refreshing view on the subject and is far removed from the HM Bateman-style
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sticklers of old - "The Man Who Ordered Cru Classe Claret With His Apple
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Crumble".
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"It's such fun playing with things you haven't thought of," Beckett says. "Be
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creative and imaginative. For example, everyone knows that stilton goes well
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with port. Well, working on the same principles, why not try it with home-made
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sloe gin? Or what about goat's cheese with sauvignon blanc? It's a sublime
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match."
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Of course, such experimentation is all very well at home, where you might have
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a few bottles to play with, but rather harder in a restaurant.
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Luckily my local, Sam's of Brighton, is an enlightened spot. It offers most
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wines by the glass (diners are invited to sample before buying) and punter-
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friendly 50cl carafes, which allows our party of four to each have something
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different, and encourages customers to bring their own bottles every Wednesday
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for a tiny corkage fee.
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"We're pretty laid-back here," says chef/owner Sam Metcalfe. "My only advice
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is stick to your budget rather than obsess about which wine goes with what
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dish. If you plan to come in with your own bottle, look at the menu online
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first or ask us what dish would match what you've brought."
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I wonder what James Bond would think. But then he was known to drink his fizz
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out of coupe glasses. And if that isn't social suicide, I don't know what is.
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* [jonathan.ray@telegraph.co.uk][6]
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* Sam's of Brighton (01273 676222; [www.samsofbrighton.co.uk][7])
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[X][8] Share & bookmark
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][9]
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* Share: [Share][8] [ ][10] [ ][11]
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[Tweet][12]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/5708939/The-perils-of-food-and-
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wine-matching.html
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Telegraph
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## [Wine][13]
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* ### [Lifestyle »][14]
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* ### [Food and Drink »][15]
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In food-and-drink
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[![Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter][16]][17]
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### [Telegraph Wine Shop][17]
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[![Burgandy cellars][18] ][19]
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### [2009 Vintage: Burgundy best in a barrel][19]
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[X][8] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][9]
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Share:
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* [ ][8]
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* [ ][10]
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* [ ][11]
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* [Tweet][12]
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* Advertisement
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![][20]
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telegraphuk
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][21] [blog
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comments powered by Disqus][22]
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[![wineshop_v2][23]][24]
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Advertisement
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Wine Offers
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* [OFFERS][25]
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* [RED WINE][26]
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* [WHITE WINE][27]
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