DECANTER \ BEN THOMAS MEETS HiS pErfEcT MATcH
NEil PRENTiCE & ChEf BEN CooPER AT ChiN ChiN
12 The weekly review \ february 20, 2013
(JOE ARMAO / thE AgE)
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“In European gustatory terms, wine is the sweet and hen I mentioned to a few people in the office that I was talking to the chef and sommelier the sour in the glass and the savoury’s on the plate. Eastern food turns that on its head – a lot of the time of Melbourne’s hottest Thai restaurant, Chin Chin, about matching wine with spicy food, they the sweet and sour is on the plate, so you’re really looking at texture and structure, just as much as you’re all got a crazed look and demanded that I report back post-haste. Chin Chin does that to people. looking at flavour. “Remember that the wine’s not supposed to be the Unlocking the mystery to matching drinks with spicy Asian food is the subject of Solving the Eternal main voice on the table, it should be secondary.” Good textural wines to match include off-dry Chilli Dilemma, a Melbourne Food and Wine Festival masterclass hosted by chef Benjamin Cooper and riesling, which doesn’t tend to fight with food and has a hint of sweetness that gets balanced out sommelier and winemaker Neil Prentice. The key, according to Prentice, is to match by vibrant acid. Pinot gris, with its voluptuous Match hot, spicy food with either tannins or texture. hot, spicy food texture and subtle apple and pear notes “If you go to any restaurant in Bangkok, the works well too. with either “Pinot noir tends not to fight with spice too locals are going to be drinking beer and black tannins or tea. In essence, it’s all about tannin and bitter,” much. It’s a wine that’s really about texture, texture too,” says Prentice. says Prentice. Beer, Prentice notes, isn’t always suited to As for sweet dishes, Prentice says sweet whites, such as moscato and cane-cut sticky wines, rather our weather: “Really nice, interesting beer, is good – when it’s in a humid, hot Thai setting. Even a light than sweeter botrytis styles, work best. \ bthomas@theweeklyreview.com.au beer, such as Chang or Singha, can be too much in cold weather such as our winter.” » Solving the Eternal Chilli Dilemma is on With variety being the spice of life, plus Melbourne’s March 9 at 3.45pm at the Langham, Southgate. fickle climate, wine is often a better match. Prentice says www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au textural wines work best and the classic European food and wine matches hold true as a rule of thumb when online » choosing a wine to drink with spicy flavours. Chef Benjamin Cooper’s favourite matches “I try to head towards classic European matches – seafood and riesling, pinot gris and pork, duck and pinot noir,” he says.
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