www.indexmagazine.co.uk SIP IT & SEE
So she prefers white with dinner, while a glass of robust red really is the perfect match for your succulent steak. You could always order a glass of each but you really don’t want to buy two separate bottles. So is it time to play the ‘white with fi sh and red with meat’ trump card? Wine lovers/drinkers the world over usually have a preference and the old adage of “red wine with meat and white wine with fi sh”, while easy to remember, is no longer considered gospel. These days, you’re more likely to hear, “drink what you like, eat what you like”. But there are some guidelines that can help your wine pairing choice this Christmas to be a successful one. Fish is usually delicate in fl avour. Red wines, normally, have much stronger fl avours than whites which means that red wine, particularly with its tannin component, can overpower the fl avour of fi sh. It’s not a hard-and-fast law, though.
There are light red wines that go very well with fi sh. Rose wines, too. Fish with strong fl avours – for example, mackerel and tuna – stand up quite well to red wines. It’s more a rule of thumb that you’ll go less wrong by
serving a white wine with fi sh than if you serve a red. So what are the basic rules of pairing? • Do your best to match the weight and mouth feel of the wine and food, balance their intensity, and try to either match fl avours or counterbalance them. Intense foods call for intense wines. Red wines typically pair well with red meat because meat stands up to the tannins, but you can substitute rich, full-bodied whites. • White wines tend to have more acidity than reds, which can counterbalance rich foods and cut through heavy notes, especially when a dish is served with a sauce or in a stew. However, science could have the answer after a team of Japanese scientists found, what they believe to be the reason for the pairing between wine and food. In combining fi sh with red wine a disagreeable taste occurs in the palate due to the
FOOD & DRINK
presence of high iron levels in the alcoholic drink, the researchers explained. According to their fi ndings,
the disagreeable fi sh aftertaste after drinking red wine is due to the iron, which some grape juice naturally contains more than others. The scientifi c discovery was made following a study on the components of 38 commercial red wines from various countries, and 26 white wines. As part of the experiment, wine samplers tested the wines while dining on scallops. Cheers!
Chapel Down releases England’s fi rst orange wine
Local vineyard Chapel Down has released England’s fi rst orange wine. The Chapel Down Orange Bacchus 2014 is the fi fth single varietal Bacchus that Chapel Down produce and it is due to this extended knowledge and understanding of the grape variety that Chapel Down winemaker, Josh Donaghay-Spire, began skin contact trials with Bacchus during the 2014 harvest. The resulting wine offers
intense aromas of smoky stewed apple together with hints of citrus rind and an almond-like bitterness on the palate leading to a rich complex fi nish. Josh said: “As England’s leading winemaker we are keen to push the boundaries and experiment with winemaking techniques in order to produce the best quality and innovative wines.”
Have your cake
– and eat it! Newly-established online cake shop Pret-A-Cake is baking Tunbridge Wells a better place. Run by ex-pastry chef Sergei, who knows a thing or two about couture baking from his extensive work in London’s fi nest restaurants, Pret-A-Cake bakes all types of cakes and cupcakes for various occasions – Christmas,
weddings, birthdays, an anniversary or christening, you name it. But Pret-A-Cake is not your ordinary cake shop – cakes are bespoke edible works of art and will most defi nitely impress. Each cake is made to order using only the fi nest ingredients, sourced locally, where possible.
Need a little inspiration for your next birthday cake? How
about Pret-A-Cake’s moist red velvet sponge layered with vanilla white chocolate buttercream cake with Belgian dark chocolate ganache, fresh berries, marshmallows and deliciously soft macaroons, topped with crisp ice cream cone? • For more information, call Pret-A-Cake on 01892 522150 or email
hello@pretacake.co.uk
The INDEX magazine
www.indexmagazine.co.uk
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