Matching food and wine

Last month, we looked at potential pitfalls to avoid when ordering food, and wanting to impress.

This month we turn to wine and starting on a more topical note, as Chef to the British Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, in 1989, when Margaret Thatcher, then Prime Minister, came to give her 'climate' speech, I enjoyed planning the food and wine combination served - to showcase truly British food with British wine, if memory serves me well! 

 The problem of pairing wine and food is one that bothers many people. Disaster can be averted if you following two basic rules.

• It's far more important to pair wine with people, not food.
• Wine and food work well together, only a few combinations don’t work.

 Many people have a preferred style of wine, sticking to it religiously, and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that approach; it would be arrogant, and could lose you a business opportunity, if you try to force your choice of wine on your guests. Just be thankful that, in the main, you do not have to join them in drinking a sweet white wine with a juicy steak!

In my view, it all comes down to that most basic of sales skills – like the good boy scout, be prepared and do your homework first! If you’ve met before then take note of any preferences you observe, ask their PA, or give them the opportunity to choose, if your budget allows.

There are countless wine and food combinations; which of the two, food or wine, do you want to be the star of the show, or are you seeking that elusive perfect duo?

We’ll consider 'classic' matches next month; in the meantime, other considerations are explored.

Red wine with fish - select a wine low in tannins, such as a light Burgundy, to go with salmon or trout, as anything bigger and bolder will impart an unpleasant metallic taste.

Dry wines with sweet foods - don’t, unless you have to. A sweet pudding coats the palate with sugar, completely changing the way the wine tastes, making it unpalatable.

Contrast & complement – matching a crisp white wine with a rich, oily fish is an example of contrast, whilst a sweet wine served with pudding works well, through their similar trait, sweetness.

When in Rome - in general, particularly when dining on ethnic cuisine, you will find it is the local wine from that region or country that best matches the dishes served. These regional combinations of wine and food have evolved for a reason, they work.

Cooking with wine – the end product will only be as good as the quality of the wine used (and the food), and should be served with the finished dish. Beef Bourgignon springs readily to mind.

 

Wine and food pairing problems to avoid - chocolate is notoriously difficult, along with egg dishes, asparagus, tomatoes and vinaigrette dressings. If in doubt, wait until you’ve finished the dish, then start quaffing.

Building business relationships over the dinner table

A good business relationship, unless it’s purely for financial reasons, is largely dependent on how well matched the key players are; we are all well aware of aware of the maxim, ‘people buy from people they like’.

Opposites can attract, each bringing something to the partnership, and the same goes when selecting wines to go with food. The most successful pairings, considered ‘classics’, stand the test of time, like a good marriage.

It is well known that, particularly in Europe, the development of regional combinations of wine and food styles over the centuries has evolved as a result of complementary flavour nuances, and considerations – complexity, intensity, weight and acidity.

This is why that bottle of plonk served outside on the terrace of a sunny Mediterranean resort seems to lose its sparkle when tried again at home on a cold, wet, winter's day.

• Wines have their own flavour characteristics; fruity, floral, vegetal, earthy, which can provide the clue to a good match with accompanying food
• Pair light dishes with light bodied wine, heartier dishes with 'punchier' wines
• Rustic foods go better with rustic wines, whilst great dishes deserve a 'great' match
• Decide if you want to mirror the key flavour components, or provide a contrast
• Look for well balanced acidity; refreshing lively wines will provide a better food match than fat, flabby wines low in acidity
• Consider tannin; these wines taste better with foods high in protein and fat
• Be careful of oak, as oaky wines can be difficult to match
• For a 'sweet' relationship always ensure wine served with pudding is sweeter than the pud itself, or it will seem flat and dull

CLASSIC FOOD AND WINE MATCHES

Brut Blanc de Blanc Champagne	Caviar	Champagne, the most food friendly of all wines. Saltiness of the caviar works well with the lively acidity, cleansing the palate
Burgundy Chablis	Oysters	Clean, crisp flavours of a classic Chardonnay, have the body to meet its match head on.
Sancerre (white)	Goat's Cheese	Classic regional pairing. 'If it grows together, it goes together'.
Sauternes	Foie Gras	Rich sweetness of the wine cuts nicely through the richness of the dish – where 'lux' meets 'lux'.
New World Chardonnay	Lobster	Style is the key here; this bold, buttery wine stands up well to the meaty weight of lobster.
Bordeaux (try an aged Medoc – Paulliac or St. Julien)	Roast Spring Lamb	Proteins in the meat match well with the full-bodied style and tannins in the wine.

Linda Piggott-Vijeh of Service Matters has been advising the hospitality industry on food and wine for almost three decades and, in addition to conducting regular tastings, she has a 100% pass rate for her WSET exam courses.

DINNER TABLE DIPLOMACY

As chef to the British Ambassador I could tell what was afoot by who was coming to dinner. Many an international disaster was averted, or deal negotiated, not around the boardroom, but in the intimacy of the dining room.

It’s much the same when business entertaining. In the current economic climate, business relationships are vitally important; everyone fighting for their share of the market.

First things first, begin with the end in mind; decide your objective.

What is your purpose in entertaining? To secure a job or contract, open up negotiations, industrial espionage, a thank you for favours done, or support in a tricky situation?

In the hierarchy of your business sector where do you stand; new kid on the block or head honcho?

Once you have established your purpose you can select your venue with confidence. After ascertaining your guest’s dining preferences, ensuring everything goes smoothly, prior planning is essential for success. So, know your prospect.

Do your research; ask their PA, secretary, or other colleagues. Always keeping sight of your main objective.

The ultimate compliment is of course an invitation to one’s home – it’s what the The Queen, Obama and Cameron do; but be careful of the company you keep.

The style, reputation and cost of the venue will dictate whether you want to impress by being ‘seen’, prefer a discrete private room, or show off a new venture.

Firstly, unless eating at your local greasy spoon, make a reservation. Always, always check out an unfamiliar place first.

In New York, your table position in a top restaurant says everything about your status. Do you really want that tiny table by the kitchen door?

As an independent inspector, many a report rests on where I am seated. Unlike some guides, I feel strongly that the environment and service have almost as much impact on the experience as food quality.

It doesn’t hurt to impress upon the maitre d’ the importance of the occasion, tipping well if necessary. Remember, you are the customer, and paying their wages.

Unless arriving with your guest, be there on time to welcome him or her – and prevent them ordering that expensive single malt or Hennessy Paradis, costing more than the meal!

Where possible, do not allow guests to see menu prices, but do urge them to choose first. If you’re on a budget, a good way of steering them towards cheaper options can be dealt with deftly by the maitre d’ recommending the ‘set menu’ or other less pricey items. If it’s a place you are familiar with, simply steer them towards an old favourite with ‘I have always enjoyed the……here’.

In a different context, one of the most romantic dates I ever experienced was where the menu had been pre-selected. My host achieved his aim, but to do that takes guts and insider knowledge.

Remember, as the host, like all good sales people, you are in control. It is after all a sales job one way or another.

A bit about Linda - As a former chef to the British Ambassador to the UN, in New York, I was fortunate enough to gain international attention with innovative British cuisine, often specialising in theme menus. Back on home soil I became a Senior Inspector with the AA, before setting up Service Matters. I have a reputation as a tough cookie, renowned for my objectivity; and an outspoken, slightly controversial public speaker. As the only operator of an approved WSET wine school in Somerset, I am proud of the current success rate of 100% for my exam students.

BAKING THE BUSINESS CAKE

In business training sessions and workshops, and drawing on my years as a professional chef, I like to find visual food analogies to put across my point.

To my mind, running a successful company is a bit like making a cake.

In tough economic times you may not have the funds to use top quality ingredients, (for which read, employ high calibre staff), but with a bit love and care you can still produce results that will be more successful than taking on board a bunch of high flying prima-donnas and throwing them all into the melting pot of day-to-day office politics; the difference between the all-in-one method of making your 'business cake', putting everything in the mixing bowl and beating the life out of it, instead of ensuring that each ingredient is in the right condition to produce the results you want. Recognition that each ingredient (employee) has an important part to play. For the uninitiated, this is called team work.

The mixing bowl is the equivalent of your own department; it needs to be big enough to hold all of the ingredients when at peak performance, or it will spill over, the equivalent of a team member leaving..

You, the manager, are the wooden spoon, which needs to be strong enough to do the job without breaking. The team cannot perform without you bringing them all together, in the right order. If you beat too hard, you'll end up with a disjointed team that won't work together, causing friction, and resulting in failure.

Of course your team members are not working in isolation. If any one of them goes sick, leaves (missing ingredients,or the wrong quantities), or doesn't understand from the outset the business objective, and the part they play in it, then great results will not be guaranteed; the future of the business relies on consistency.

Stay with the theme – here's your team of 14.

• 4oz. butter (old hands, can be hard nosed, and need softening up to mix with others in the team)
• 4oz. caster sugar (reliably sweet tempered, and good team players but feeling ground down with responsibility, work best with butter)
• 2 medium eggs (can have off days if they get too cold, but when motivated and full of energy, can really cause team spirits to rise. Prefer to work separately until they get to know the other team members better, otherwise they can cause friction)
• 4oz. self-raising flour (flighty types who, if they don't get their own way can bring the team down, but when lightened up a bit can help bring the whole team together)

Having brought everything together you'll now need the right sized baking tins (2x 7inches) to cook it all in. They are comparable to the company in which you operate. You've done your job with the team mix, but those at the top need to have done a little preparation themselves, a little greasing and lining maybe? This will enable them to hold the whole 'business cake' together, without it sticking, while it steps into the outside world – the oven.

The oven is akin to the economic marketplace in which your business operates, something you have little or no control over – is it at the right temperature to ensure your 'business cake' can rise. Is it too hot causing it to burn, or too cool to ensure a good rise?

Lastly, as with all things, timing is everything …... once your 'business cake' is out of the oven, having got the basics right, don't rush to market. You must allow sufficient cooling (thinking) time to consider the 'value added' element that will ensure your reputation as the best in your market; jam, with or without buttercream, fresh cream, maybe that extra hidden something (a drop of passionfruit?), and of course eye catching packaging. These elements will ensure you are unique and can command the highest price, creating a demand, for either a slice or the whole thing, with a discount for bulk purchase, of course.

Team happy, work done, and you've all kept your jobs! Gone on, treat yourself (and your team) to a slice of cake.

Added Value

For as long as I've been in the advertising and marketing business I, and my colleagues, have focused the Unique Selling Point (USP) of the businesses I work with, helping promote them, persuading potential customers to darken their doors, readies in hand, keeping the wolf from the door.

However, I am now of the opinion that in the current climate, far from worrying about gaining new customers, businesses need to work harder to retain the ones they've got. Long gone is the level of loyalty once enjoyed by that cosy customer relationship, often fuelled by membership of the same golf club, or across the Masonic dinner table.

I believe the the new business 'buzz'`word should be 'added value'.

Consider, what are you giving your customers over and above what they are paying for, and entitled to expect?

This applies equally to local government, service industries and the hospitality and retail sectors. The 'feel good' or WIIFM (what's in it for me) factor might be a 'freebie', something extra, or a small consideration to show how much they are valued.

When was the last time you engaged with a customer only to have them say 'Wow, thanks, I wasn't expecting that.'? This is what will keep them coming back, and takes a positive, pro-active approach from every employee, all the time.

My mantra is 'attitude is everything' – perhaps it's why, for ten years, the family group I take time out to cook for each summer say 'We are only going to come again next year if you are doing the cooking. When are YOU going to be available?'; paying four times what I usually earn in a week, because I give added value, every day of their stay, making me worth my weight in gold to them. Are you?

Chocolate and Wine - A match made in heaven

At Easter, what to do, if like me, you love both chocolate and wine? Having given up chocolate for Lent I shall be champing at the bit come Easter Sunday.

Milk, dark or white, hollow or filled? Matching wine with chocolate is one of the trickiest food and wine pairing challenges.

There are however, some interesting combinations; if you find the right one it can be a match made in heaven, but be sure to avoid dry wines.

Your best bet is to match lighter, more elegant flavoured chocolates with lighter-bodied wines. Likewise, the stronger the chocolate the more full-bodied the wine.

Go for a pairing that ‘compliments’; trying to find a suitable ‘contrast’ can be trickier.

First the chocolate. Although a hidden cream egg fan, I prefer to treat myself, or be treated to, beautifully presented, upmarket chocolates, the darker the better. Consider the key characteristics – note the aroma, listen to the snap when you break it and check the shine and glossiness. Before tasting, pay similar attention to the wine. For a cheap and cheerful fizz, try a demi-sec Blanquette de Limoux, from the Languedoc region of SW France (£8 for 75cl. 12% abv). Using Mauzac grapes, it is made using the ‘traditional champagne method’ but offers better value for money. Demi-sec, meaning half dry, is actually a sweet wine. Its dry apply acidity helps to make this match less cloying than others. It goes lovely with hollow chocolate eggs, but do beware of the clash with rich sweet fillings. Also worth a try is Moscato d’Asti (£8 for 75cl. 5.5% abv), a semi-sweet lightly sparkling wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, made from Moscato Bianco grapes. Fresh and floral, it has low alcohol levels, meaning you can start early and continue to enjoy it all day.

Many people consider port a good match for dark chocolate. Here I’d recommend Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port (£22 for 75cl. 20% abv), particularly with dark chocolate; or another fortified wine, the luscious Pedro Ximenez sherry (£7.99 for 50cl. 18% abv).

The general rule is that a wine should be as sweet, or a little more so, than the chocolate.

Linda Piggott-Vijeh gives advice on perfect tipples for Easter

DELICIOUSLY DIFFERENT WINES TO CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

Local WSET Wine Tutor, and Champagne Ambassador finalist, Linda Piggott-Vijeh, of Service Matters, shares her top tips for wines to celebrate the festive season in LE Society style

As a champagne lover I can’t imagine celebrating any occasion without it and, for me, pink fizz says it all – it’s frivolous, fun and festive. 

If money were no object and I was looking to push the boat out, my preference to kick start this year’s festive season in style will delight both Ab Fab and Bond fans alike, a good old bottle of Bollinger.. This special Bollinger Rose NV is their first new wine in over 30 years. Made from a Pinot Noir dominant blend (62%) of the 3 approved champagne grapes, the pink colour and delicate aromas are enhanced by a tiny proportion of (5%) still red wine. Aged on its lees for 3 years, its ‘brut’ style goes absolutely fabulously with smoked salmon, and will stand up to the rest of the meal too.

Not cheap, but I’d rather splurge on one solitary seductive flute of something classy and memorable than guzzle a bottle of plonk.

Bollinger Brut Rose – Waitrose £46.29, and online wine sites.

At the other end of the scale and moving onto the main course, where many of us opt for something other than turkey these days, my choice would be Fleurie. Produced in Burgundy, and not to be confused with the cheap and quaffable Beaujolais Nouveau, there are a number of producers available in all major supermarkets priced at around £10 a bottle. One of the Beaujolais Crus, and several notches above the usual offering, makesFleurie an interesting option. Medium bodied, and made from the yummy Gamay grape, with an enticing floral perfume and ripe strawberry/mulberry flavours. It is smooth, sliky and sophisticated, with a velvety texture and low in tannins. A very accessible wine. It’s affordable, food friendly, being a good match for both light and dark meats, and passes the cranberry sauce test.

M&S Fleurie – 2010  - 13% - produced by Paul Sapin - £10.99

Bouchard Pere et fils 13% - Waitrose - £10.99

Also available at all other major supermarkets

Saving room for the pud or cheese course, I’ll be drinking the little known Tokaji Aszu from Hungary. 

This modern-style Gold medal winning wine is from a fine vintage and an excellent producer, It shows a gorgeous, honeyed richness on the palate, balanced by bright acidity to prevent any cloying sensation. Finishing off sweetly, yet with mouth watering freshness. 

All in all a rich and succulent  world class wine. It has rich complexity with peachy fruit and balanced acidity to prevent it cloying. Half bottle goes a long way

Levels of sweetness are measured by puttonyos, the ones recommended here are 5 puttonyos.

Tokaji Aszu - £19.99 50cl. 5 puttonyos- Waitrose - £26.99

Keeping it local – all wines are sold at County Stores, Taunton - £68.13 for the lot

A word of advice. All wines have pretty similar on costs; tax, packaging, marketing, bottling, labelling etc. so the more you can afford to pay the more of your hard earned money will be down to the quality of the wine. So, unless you just want to quaff, avoid the 3 for £10 bottles on offer. We’re all willing to pay around £5 a glass for mediocre wine in a pub or restaurant, if you multiply that by the number of glasses when buying a bottle for yourself you’d be paying around £20 – just imagine what you’d get for that!

What’s not to love?!

Having said all this – Christmas is a time for a little indulgence and wine is a very personal issue, so drink what pleases you.