Food & Wine Pairing: Bitter Tastes Rule

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm telling you about the real rules of food and wine pairing, and this is rule number eight. Rule number eight is very important, and here it goes. Bitterness in food accentuates bitterness in wine, and not in a good way. So, be very careful with bitter flavors in food and wine. Now, bitter flavors in food are not a bad thing. Bitter flavors in food can accentuate other flavors and make it, overall, an interesting flavor profile. Typical foods that have bitterness in them include eggplant and mushrooms, broccoli and asparagus, lots of different bitter greens like radicchio, and also grill marks on, on meat, and also little bit of bittersweet chocolate. So, the first thing you want to do is make sure if your food has bitterness in it or not. The second thing is, look at your wine. A lot of wine have bitterness in it. It's not a bad thing in wine at all. However, we don't want to pair up a bitter food with bitterness in wine. What will happen is, those two flavors will combine and come forward and be very, very bitter in an, in a bad way. Think about the last time you were in a room with two bitter people. It probably wasn't a good experience for you. So, be very careful with rule number eight. Remember that bitterness in food will bring forward bitterness in wine, and it can be a bad match. Look for a low bitter wine, like maybe a Gewürztraminer or a Semillon, or a nice light red to match up with foods that have any bitterness in them. Good luck with that. It's important."