OnTap Magazine

ontapmag.co.za | Spring 2024 | 49 A s the author of “Passion for Pairing”, an internationally awarded reference book on food pairing, as well as the current title-holder of “Best Sommelier in South Africa”, I have dedicated a lot of my time over the years to matching food with beverages. Food pairing has become a buzzword in the culinary world, with many restaurants, breweries, and wineries offering bespoke pairing experiences. Yet, the term often hides behind its own ambiguity. How do we ensure that a pairing truly works? The main statement is that there is more than one good pairing, sometimes many ideal pairings. However, bad pairings are unforgiving and should be avoided at all costs. To truly understand food pairing, we must first grasp the difference between taste and flavour. Taste is a more scientific concept, limited to sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami, but also spices or alcohol. Flavors, on the other hand, are limitless and stem from the combination of aromas. An easy way to grasp this is by experimenting with a classic cinnamon sugar mixture: Take a spoon full of the mixture, taste it while blocking your nose with your free hand. You will notice you will only taste the sugar on your tongue. Now, unblock your nose and you will smell the burst of cinnamon, through to the back on your throat This effect is called retronasal-olfaction. It confirms that your palate only identifies a limited number of element while all the flavours are actually perceived through your nose. For this very reason, it is difficult to decide a pairing just based on the flavour. Imagine a strawberry tart, full of red fruit flavours, you can’t just think of a Paul Cluver Pinot Noir as a match, although both parts have these strong strawberry flavours in common. The key to the pairing will be the sweetness of the pie, thus calling for a sweeter wine. Furthermore, it is important to remember that whatever hot dish you have on your plate carries ten times more aroma than any wine, beer or sake, due to the warm temperature making aromatic molecules more volatile. For the purposes of food matching, wines, beers, and most beverages are described by their acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. The flavours are here only to tweak the association. So, to help you get started, here are some essential rules for successful pairings: