The perfect food pairing

One of the questions I get ask most often is: "what would you pair with X wine"?

My answer is not what people are expecting, and can be summarized as "what's the occasion?" Generally I know I am talking with a skilled and adventurous home chef, but the point remains the same: I want you to enjoy the outcome.

This answer is also meant to start a conversation and not just deliver a verdict. Answering this conclusively in a few words would ignore the immense complexity of food and wine pairing. Especially on the chemical level. Each bottle of wine has its own history and nuances, each dish has its own preparation methods specific to each chef, and each person's palette its own interpretation of the whole ordeal.

So if your goal is to explore, by yourself or for your guests, some euphoric food and wine pairing, I suggest asking a few high level questions before launching into Top Chef mode.

These should be taken with a grain of salt - I assume these bottles have been in your cellar for a while, you are familiar with them, and you have finally gotten around to planning a meal around them.

A few rules that I live by, when possible:

• Am I trying to pair the entire meal with one bottle of wine? If so, expect the wine to play second fiddle. Instead, plan a specific dish around the wine.

• Attempt to split the meal into courses where the wines and the food are better matched. Salad doesn't pair with aged Cabernet, but your filet and scalloped potatoes do.

• Personal taste of "sweet and heat" impact the wine's influence greatly. Be careful to keep levels of sugar and spice in balance for any aged bottle of wine.

• Sauces and seasoning, not starches, veggies, or proteins, are where you will find the ultimate pairing indicators.

• Finally, how much effort are you putting to the food versus enjoyment of the wine? Make sure there's time to enjoy a glass and not lose your temper, and guest's patience, because your grandma's lasagna recipe is taking forever.

Are there bottles of wine you are thinking of opening, but don't have a dish picked out yet? You can be sure I'm going to reply with a question and not a straight answer.

Cheers!

Ryan

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Homework: Did you earmark a few bottles from the cellar to make room for new ones?