MAGAZINE

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Humans have been coupling food with complementary drinks for centuries. Various modern archaeological finds have traced the origins of large-scale winemaking back to 4100 BC. In those early days, food would often have been paired with wine as it was generally considered safer to drink than the local water supply.

Taste is subjective, but there are plenty of scientific principles behind the pairings that make our taste buds tick. It involves much of the same thinking that chefs draw on when constructing the ultimate dish, including the five basic tastes the human tongue is sensitive to: salt, sweet, bitter, sour and umami. The goal is to achieve the perfect balance between these varied profiles, creating a magical, flavourful fusion that releases the body’s endorphins (otherwise known as ‘feel-good’ hormones). With wine, specifically, operators also have to consider aspects like the tannins, sugar, acids, oak and alcohol content. A highly acidic wine, for example, might be ideal for cutting through a particularly salty dish, while tannic wines, which physically react to proteins, are often said to ‘soften’ meat-rich meals. A wine with a high alcohol volume would typically enhance the spice within a dish – a curry, for instance – meaning a drink that’s lower in alcohol would be your best option to counteract the heat. A sweeter wine would also work well in this context, with residual sugars evening out fiery flavours in the food.

When done just right, the marvellous art of pairing is nothing short of magic. Both the dish and drink perform a delicate dance on the taste buds, each elevating the other to a level that could simply never be achieved on its own. I was lucky enough to experience this sort of culinary synergy recently, during a meal at Crazy Bear Stadhampton’s newly opened restaurant, Oak (which you can read about from p.32). I have no doubt that both the wine list and tasting menu can hold their own, but it was the expertly conducted matchmaking between each respective dish and drink that created something really special.

Genna Ash-Brown
Editor