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Sensational Approach to Food & Beverage Pairing

Sensational is the most subjective and individual approach. Everybody can easily find themselves being experts in this filed, as years of your experience almost equals your age.

Here are some basic rules and theory to support and enhance your practical experience using the sensational approach:

Rule 1 — Match the weight of the beverage with the weight of the food.

Food weight can be defined as a richness and texture of the dish as it tastes and feels in your mouth.

The weight of the drink has some additional features to consider: alcohol level and viscosity as you swirl the drink in your glass. Sommelier Paul Roberts gives a simple technique to “taste” the difference in weight speaking about wine which can be applicable to other beverages as well. “If it (a drink) is thin like water, think of it as a light-bodied; if it’s got the weight of whole milk, think of it as full-bodied... And if it’s somewhere in the middle, like 2% milk, it’s likely a medium-bodied...”

Matching the weight gives you the pleasure to enjoy your already favorite combinations like grilled beef with Cabernet Sauvignon, or boiled crawfish with Pilsner.

With the wine variety we have nowadays, it is even more important to know something about wine’s weight than its color when pairing with a particular dish.

Look at the chart below to find the best pairing combinations of beverages and food as well as cooking techniques and sauces the importance of which should not be underestimated.

Rule 2 — Balance the volume of the beverage with the volume of the food.

Volume is an overall intensity of flavors.

Example of volume in food: delicate greens lightly dressed with lemon might be of low volume, while a rib-eye steak topped with blue cheese can be “loud” in flavors.

Example of volume in beverage: a vintage port can be loud whereas a light Sauvignon Blanc might be “quiet.”

When looking for successful combinations, you want dishes that can keep up with a beverage, and where one does not dominate the other. This rule is extremely important for pairing grand beverages with complex aromas and taste nuances, where you want to be able to taste the drink while eating the food, and to be able to taste the food while enjoying the drink.

Use the chart below to help you avoid possible confusion.

Considering Weight and Volume When Pairing

Rule 3 — Balance Flavors

Balancing flavors can be done two ways:

1) pair to compare, where beverage and food have similar taste or textual characteristics, savoring the similarities between the two;

2) pair to contrast means combining food and beverage with different/contrasting characteristics, for example: salty foods with sweet wines.

The secret to success for this rule lies in sauces and cooking techniques that can magically create a “bridge” between the dish and the drink. Vegetables, fruits, or seasoning used in sauces can link the flavors and make your pairing “sing” in harmony. Grilling, as an example of a cooking technique, creates a natural smoky flavor to work well with beverages that have this feature in their flavor profile: whisk(e)y, cognac, brandy, some wines. Please use the Rosinka Encyclopedia to learn about major flavors of certain beverages.

Both ways, pair to compare and pair to contrast, have their own advantages and disadvantages and work differently with various beverages. When not sure, use “compare” with wines, whiskey, gin, cognac or brandy, use “contrast” to vodka and beer. If you are completely in doubt concerning what to pair with your food, serve champagne.