How do you pair your food with wine?

It was a day to celebrate the ambrosia of life: food and wine together. Connoisseurs of the enchanting liquid, and food critics were recently taken through a journey of tickling taste buds at The Park. With some of Chef Mandaar’s signature dishes along with chief wine-maker of Four Seasons Wines, Abhay Kewadkar giving some tips on how one can match their food with a particular wine to enjoy the best of both worlds, the journey indeed left more than a few tickled. Here are a few excerpts from the wine-maker himself:  Thumb ruleThe basic rule for pairing food with wine is that white wine goes with white meat while red wine with red meat. However, sometime the ingredients which go into the cuisine can dominate the basic meat or vegetable and then the choice of wine would be decided by the level of spice, et al. This is very true for Indian cuisine especially the Andhra cuisine which tends to be spicy with the use of chillies and pepper. The tangy taste from the tamarind adds to this complexity. Chicken and fish are white meat and the equivalent vegetarian option would be paneer. If you make a malai tikka you will definitely need to accompany it white wine. For a tandoori chicken with moderate spicing, an off-dry Rose’ would go better. But if a chicken/paneer butter masala or a cuisine with fish like chapala pulusu, you will definitely need a fruity and medium bodied red wine. Wine etiquettesWine can be enjoyed just like any other beverage and there is no compulsion to follow any wine etiquettes. But, for those who want to follow — there are some basic ones. For one, white wine glasses are smaller when compared to that of red wine. White wine is served in smaller portions and has more refills. On the other hand, red wine is served in a wider glass because it needs more air to enhance the taste. And, the wine glass is usually not held by the body in order to avoid warming up the wine with one’s body temperature.Wine culture in the cityHyderabad, or for that matter, Andhra Pradesh, has an immense potential for wine consumption. There are many contributing factors like middle class families with high disposable income, increasing knowledge about wines and so on, that gives the city the potential of being called a wine city. Two years ago, Hyderabad didn’t even have a wine club, but now it does. This definitely shows that there is a lot of scope. The wine and food pairing can of course be very subjective. It is best to experiment and learn in the process. There are some people who prefer to drink a red wine always even with steamed fish or a chicken/paneer malai tikka. At the end of the day, wine is like any other beverage meant for enjoyment, so just enjoy it! Knowledge will follow in time.