A Story of
Food and Wine by Pascale Beale
“Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well matched they are as body and soul, living partners.” —Andre Simon (1877–1970)
O
nce I reached the grand age of 8, my grandmother are blended, in California I discovered single varietals. finally deemed me old enough to prepare the table This added a whole new dimension to food pairing. When for a dinner party without constant supervision. going out for dinner I would hear someone ask for a glass of I considered this a huge honor and set about the serious task Chardonnay or Pinot, something I had never heard of as we determined not to make a mistake or have her correct my asked for a Chianti, Burgundy or Bordeaux depending on what placement of a particular fork, plate or glass. we were going to eat. So, what were the parallels? How was I going to navigate all of this? My mother looked on indulgently. She knew, as I would soon learn, that my grandmother was incapable of inspecting A quick review of Old World regional specialties revealed the final table setting without making infinite little adjustments. their equivalent (roughly speaking) Californian varietals: She was a perfectionist in l’art de la table. Burgundy and Pinot Noir, Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon, Chianti and Sangiovese, Sancerre and Sauvignon Blanc, Barolo For special occasions, she would bring out her hand-cut and Nebbiolo, Rhône Valley wines crystal glasses from the 1930s. Each would be polished until it glistened in like Châteauneuf-du-Pape and “A meal without wine is like a Grenache, and so on. This general the evening light and placed on large mother-of-pearl inlaid trays to be taken guideline helped for a while, but day without sunshine.” to the dining room, where they would it required in-depth knowledge of —Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the varietal makeup of different be aligned with regimental precision in front of each person’s plate. regions of Bordeaux, for example The Physiology of Taste (1825) (Saint-Émilion, Margaux, Pomerol, Water glasses, white wine glasses, to name a few) to find an equivalent red wine glasses, glasses for dessert here in California. wines, glasses for port and glasses for digestifs. Each served a purpose. I was intrigued by the delicate balancing act of One other important factor influenced these choices: Most choosing the right wine to go in the appropriate glass, to “Old World” wines were created to be enjoyed with food, complement what was being served. She always planned her which was not necessarily the case in California. I also found menus with the utmost care and the wines were chosen to that wines here had a much higher alcohol content. Some wines enhance the dishes. I had to understand why! would knock your socks off, such as big Cabs with 13.5–14% alcohol—something rarely, if ever, seen in the Bordelais. They The basic rules of wine pairing—red wines with meat, made for interesting and impressive wine tastings but were hard lighter reds with poultry and white wine with fish—were to pair with all but the most robust red meat dishes. quickly explained, but it seemed to me that there was a lot more to it than that. There were classic combinations: duck pâté with At some point I realized that trying to match wines from Sauternes, port with Stilton, a Bordeaux with red meat. But Europe to a Californian counterpart was a disservice. Like many what should one pair with an endive salad, asparagus or fondue? people I was wowed by these big wines, but I found that they A decade or so later I was hosting my own dinner parties overpowered a lot of the food I cooked. There had to be a way and quickly learned that not all red wines are created equal. I to break this down. made some dreadful mistakes and often stood bemused in wine My meanderings through different wine regions and their shops faced with daunting selections. tasting rooms and through trial and error taught me that the It was, in fact, only when I came to California that my flavor and structure of wine is comprised of five components: understanding of wine and food pairing deepened as I tried to fruit, sugar, acid, tannin and alcohol. Food has similar flavor unravel a conundrum. Whereas in France and Italy many wines profiles—acid and sugar—with the addition of saltiness, fat, 64 | EDIBLE SANTA BARBARA SPRING 2017