Whoo-hoo – hello December!! Have you all got your party on and are you getting ready for the Festive Season??
Well, we certainly are here at Food24, cos this week, we’re all about sharing the luuuuurrrrve as widely as possible. Cath has been racing around supermarket aisles raising funds and toys for charity with Checkers – sharing the Christmas love like the star she is.
Caro is back from the chilly UK with LOADS of foodie ideas and inspiration which she’s going to be sharing with you over the coming weeks (hint – expect tapas to feature VERY largely!).
And me? I’m going to take all your Christmas and festive season angst about food and wine-matching away in one fell swoop by sharing a secret that most winos know, but we rarely tell you. Are you ready? Here it comes – most food and wine matching is a load of rubbish.
What??!!! I hear you all shriek?? Have we really been fretting and worrying all this time for nothing? Yep, ‘fraid so because the absolute truth about food and wine matching is that most wine pretty much goes with most food.
Yes, there are some combinations that sing so loudly and triumphantly in your mouth that you think you will never eat or drink anything different for the rest of your life (and if you know of such a combination, I hope you’ll share it with us!) but for the most part, eating the food you like and drinking the wine you enjoy is almost certainly what’s going to end up giving you the most pleasure, regardless of any wine-pairing ‘rules’ to the contrary.
So armed with that knowledge, I charge you all to go forth and experiment! I’ve got a few suggestions of nice wines at different budgets you can try (and okay, I did put a few food suggestions in there with my tasting notes), but it’s really all up to you.
Chicken Pie and Pinot Noir? Yep, why not. Beetroot and Feta Salad with Chardonnay? Give it a go. Or the best brekkie in Jozi with a glass of crisp Chenin Blanc? Who knows? Only you and your tastebuds, so go and have fun, try something different and above all, remember that your all-time world-beating combination is out there waiting for you somewhere and the more you eat and drink, the closer you are to finding it. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it – happy times…